Home in the Stars Box Set

by Mason, Jolie

  “I’m not going anywhere. Not till I’ve found my brother.”

  “Good. We’ll talk when the Merriweather gets here about the search grid.

  *****#*****

  The Merriweather was an Independence class warship with a crew contingent of thousands. Ari strolled behind Caden through long hallways of utilitarian hues passing crew as they went garbed in the white and yellows of the Carnes Syndicate. She’d known Caden had an empire of commerce. She’d never imagined it came with a matching military.

  Ahead of her, Carnes discussed the data they’d retrieved with the Captain of the Merriweather. Aricka kept pace with Jace beside her. Thankfully, Caden hadn’t batted an eye at Jace since she’d introduced them. He didn’t know, she thought. Didn’t have a single suspicion.

  “I thought EMP was years from being deployable as a weapon this effective. That was why there was a ban on that whole branch of technology. To keep anyone from getting something like this.”

  “It was. Obviously, someone made some advances in the tech when no one was looking”, she heard Caden reply to the frustrated Captain of the Merriweather.

  “The real question is how this got past the Weapons and Defense Protection Council. They police everything from the scientists to the components”, Captain Pak stated as he waved his hand at a closed hatch door causing it to open with a hiss.

  Caden smiled without humor. “Audi, you are politically naive, which is why you make such a brilliant fleet commander. You don’t give a damn what the ramifications of something are. You just point and shoot.”

  “You think the Council developed the weapon.”

  Caden moved into the room and went directly to the FDU for coffee. “I think there’s a better than best chance that the Council or the Imperium or both lost the damn thing. Pirates can’t afford R and D, and most don’t want more than the short job. They don’t plan things like this. This has been a full on assault of my business for almost a year now, and, suddenly, this tech appears. The targeting system on this is beyond anything we’ve seen. It’s a super weapon. You’d need a huge payoff to build a super weapon.”

  Aricka listened, appalled and a little frightened. Her brother was trapped in the middle of this mess, and it seemed like an interplanetary incident waiting to happen. She was so far out of her depth. How could she ever help her brother?

  She met Jace’s wide, young eyes. The blue sparkled with what might have been a boy’s tears for his father as he thought some of the same thoughts she’d been having. Arden was out there alone in the middle of an intergalactic political shit storm. She looked away so Jace could gather himself before he had to deal with the meeting, an intimidating experience for one so young.

  It wasn’t that long ago he learned his Da couldn’t be found, now he had to help find him. This was one hell of a first day on the job.

  Jace stood by the door, until she gestured to one of the chairs around the large oblong table. “Sit down, and you can go over your findings for the entire team.”

  Caden turned to look at her over his coffee. “Do you need coffee, Ari?”

  He asked so offhandedly, like it was routine. She shook her head and pursed her lips a bit as she chafed at his casual assumption of the responsibility for her comfort. He frowned, but said nothing.

  “Let’s just get this started. Who else is invited?”

  “The Merriweather is going to spearhead the grid search for our men. We have a local intermediary from Carnes Syndicate who works in this sector and knows it by heart, including all the potential players. His name is Maruda.” He stopped talking when the comm chirped loudly. The man who walked through the hatchway door wasn’t with the CS or the Merriweather. His uniform was Imperial High Command. He wore no head cover and carried a bag of gear. Apparently, he was looking to stay.

  His blonde hair and rounded, boyish face struck her as false immediately. It didn’t work with his perfectly laundered and pressed uniform, or his demeanor and position as a High Command officer which his epaulettes proclaimed him. He smiled charmingly at the room before nodding his head and acknowledging the Captain of the Merriweather.

  “Gentlemen, Madame”, he nodded at each in turn with a polished manner. “Pleased to meet you all. I have been sent as liaison officer between your operation and the government.”

  Caden leaned back in his chair, pointedly not standing. “Liaison? Pak, did you ask for a liaison?” Pak turned away to hide a slight tremor of amusement on his lips, which suggested he and Caden had known each other for some time. Captain Pak shook his head silently.

  “Hmm”, Caden continued. “I didn’t think so. I didn’t ask for a liaison officer, so I wonder why the government thinks I’m in need of one.”

  The easy smile never wavered. “Mr. Carnes, I assure you a liaison will not hamper your efforts. In fact, my job is to offer you any assistance I can in the matter of recovering your ship and crew.” He walked confidently toward Caden, offering his hand in friendship.

  Caden made it clear he thought it over carefully before taking that offer or the hand. “I’m Officer Valek Morgan.” The man gave his name soothingly, smiling and friendly.

  Ari watched quietly from her corner near Jace. Caden indicated her with a nod of his head. “This is Captain Aricka Badu of the Carry Bell, and her Engineer...” He paused looking at Ari.

  “Jace Badu. Engineer Jace Badu.”

  Caden looked sharply at her for clarification on who exactly Jace was.

  “His father is the captain of the Space Hag.”

  Understanding and sympathy dawned in Caden’s dark eyes, before he said quietly, “I see.” He turned to the new arrival with a more stoic expression than before.

  “Let’s be plainspoken, gentlemen. Officer Morgan, what is the government’s interest in the recovery of a mining spacer?”Caden asked.

  The impeccably behaved liaison didn’t react. He simply smiled more brightly and looked even more dangerous doing it. “Mr. Carnes, none of us want this particular weapon running about the universe destroying armies. By now, I’m sure your techs have discerned the danger of the situation. I should think our interest would be self-apparent and shared.”

  “My interest lies solely in the recovery of my men and the destruction of what is likely the most dangerous group of criminals in this system. And by destruction, I mean, total and complete, Officer Morgan. So, if your purpose in coming here was to find and procure that weapon, you’d better get there before I do. I intend no man or ship involved to limp away. Tell that to your government.”

  “Mr. Carnes, surely your interests in this are aligned with continuation of stable, peaceful civilization.”

  Caden snorted. “Peaceful? Morgan, this was an unprovoked attack on unarmed miners going about their duties, providing resources to your empire, I might add. Things will be peaceful around here when I see justice, not before then.” Caden stood suddenly.

  “Let me be clear, I don’t care about your weapon. I don’t care how it got here, and I’m very unhappy that it was used against me and mine. If the Empire wants peace, it needs to get this damned thing out of my sky.”

  The liaison bowed up a bit at this last threat from Caden, however, his next words seemed very sincere. “I will convey those sentiments, sir. In the meantime, may I offer assistance in finding these men?”

  “Certainly, what assets can you offer?”

  “I have a small fighter contingent at the ready to assist as escort to your search and rescue efforts.”

  “I appreciate that, Morgan. How will they hold up against this weapon?”

  “They have proper shielding for the situation.” The two men stared each other down.

  “I expected as much.”

  The door hissed open one more time as the two final members of the contingent entered and were introduced, Maruda and his assistant. As everyone took their places, Jace fidgeted beside her. Caden sat at the head of the conference table. He pushed a button to display the hole-map of the system, showi
ng the whole group the relative positions of each ship in the convoy before and after the attacks.

  “The cargo of the Space Hag was most probably not the target of the attack. She was carrying newly refined and volatile Callumnite for demolition purposes. Tools, supplies, and crew were the only other contents. If the crew have survived,” he looked again at Jace and Ari uncomfortably. “We suspect it would be in order to operate the ship’s facilities, which could be adapted on another site to mine more of whatever they need. That would be best case for us. It buys us time to find them. The drill and pods are highly specialized and technical equipment. Miners won’t be easy to find, so we’re hopeful about the crew’s chances.”

  When he’d finished, he nodded to Jace.

  “You have some information”, he said gently to the boy. Ari laced her fingers together painfully.

  “Yes,” Jace answered firmly. “I’ve determined that what disabled our ships was an electromagnetic pulse weapon of indeterminate type. I say indeterminate because most of the tech capable of EMP are banned, outdated nuclear designs that couldn’t hit a target smaller than a gas giant. Hitting small targets in open space was, before today, an unlikely scenario. To hit two ships in a tight formation? Shouldn’t be possible.”

  “What exactly does that tell us?” Officer Morgan asked the question as he sipped a cup of tea served on a saucer. It should have appeared pretentious and weak, but it didn’t. The man was dangerous. He was a predator, holding a cup of tea. It unsettled everyone in the room.

  “It tells us that the targeting systems are precise, and, by precise, I mean fucking perfect. It’s like throwing a dart at a board from five miles a way, if the board was on a moving shuttle with it’s doors open. Nothing we have could do it. It also means that the power source is big or efficient or both. This isn’t exactly my area. I can make some estimates. I can educate a few guesses, but I do not know of a power source that has been harnessed that could fit on any space worthy vessel powerful enough to generate the pulse that hit the Hag’s convoy. That’s not to say there isn’t one, only that I haven’t heard of it.” Jace looked pointedly at the liaison officer who inclined his head politely, in spite of the fact that Jace was basically accusing him of lying. Ari smiled. Jace was following the discussion very well for his age and experience. He’d already figured out who the enemy in the room was.

  “Do you think we’re looking for a larger ship?” Caden asked.

  Jace thought about it a moment before glancing at Ari. He said, “My gut tells me it must be. The technology just isn’t there to miniaturize the power source, whatever that is. Solar Charge Relays are large pieces of equipment. It’s the easiest and safest power source available in the universe.”

  “But”, Ari said.

  Jace smiled at her. “But, it’s not there yet. A Solar Relay would be a one shot, one use power source and would be too weak to fire this shot, and nothing has the precision this required.”. He gestured to the holo-display.

  “What could fire this shot?”

  “Honestly”, he said. “Not much. Particle Combustion could do it, but it’s unstable. Atomic explosion would require massive quantities of fissionable materials and can’t be harnessed and controlled. That’s impractical. I don’t know. It’s all a guess. The targeting system is what makes this dangerous.”

  “What does your gut say?” Caden asked the boy softly.

  “It’s new.” Jace looked them all in the eye. “Playing my instincts, I’d say it’s not something we’ve ever seen. Whatever it is, it’s radioactive, and most likely on a larger class of ship with a big crew roster. Long story short; I think it takes resources. Your pirates have backing.”

  Caden sighed softly. “I tend to agree with Jace’s assessment from a political standpoint. We can make all kinds of supposition on the technology and where it originated, however, the one thing we know is it didn’t just happen. Pirates didn’t develop it, and I can’t imagine it being stolen easily which means money.”

  Ari cleared her throat a little. “So, that brings us to motive. Why target this planet, this operation at this time?”

  “This shipment had no significant monetary value. They hadn’t reached the drill site. It was rigged to extract thanite ore which is easily transported and in high demand on the rim planetary systems. They could simply want to go into business for themselves.” This, from Maruda on the other side of the table.

  “Of course, there is the matter of its primary use”, Jace said absently.

  “Yes, thanite is used in modified weapons casings almost exclusively. That’s a motive.” Caden looked impressed with young Jace, Ari noticed.

  “So, who can use the ore? Anyone?” Ari asked.

  “Anyone with the right facilities and staff”, Caden answered Ari’s question.

  She looked at him pointedly raising her left eyebrow. “Well?”

  “I’ll compile a list of possible target sites.”

  The liaison officer, Morgan, set a datapad on the table. “What if the ship or cargo wasn’t the point? This could have been a test run for a larger attack.”

  Caden met his gaze steadily. “Could have being the most obvious part of that statement. Morgan, unless you know something that might lead you to suspect that, we have to go on the most actionable portion of what we know. What would be the benefit of a test run here?”

  Ari felt Jace stiffen beside her. He didn’t look up from his data, but, instead, tapped his foot like he had as a boy. She put her hand on his knee. “What?”, she asked quietly.

  Unfortunately, it drew every eye in the room because she said it into a moment of absolute silence around the table. Each man sat giving Jace a face. Caden looked curious. Some of the older and more pompous military men looked arrogantly annoyed that a baby-faced engineer had the floor at a meeting of this importance. Jace leaned more toward Ari, oblivious to all the attention.

  “That’s more than a motive”, he said.

  “What does that mean?” Captain Pak asked. Jace noticed the eyes all turned his way then. He coughed loudly.

  “The Space Hag by herself is nothing. A nothing ship in a nothing backwater hauling rocks. No offense, Mr. Carnes.”

  “None taken”.

  “It would be a good test. The convoy spreads out in transit, but not so much it would require the same juice it would need to take out a planet, not even close. Thanite’s regulated to a degree. Governments pay attention to who is buying large amounts. It’s almost exclusively used as tempered casing for heat producing weapons, generators and sensor systems. It’s an additive in hull casing for the medium class gun ships. If you have access to the facilities you need, you could produce any of those. Who do we know that needs an army?”

  The whole room fell silent as the implication of his logic hit each other man in the room, rebellion. There had been rumors. Jace blinked into the stunned faces of veteran captains and corporate moguls a moment, then said, “Sir.”

  *****#*****

  Chapter Three

  Back on the Carry Bell, Ari pushed the crew off to their meals followed by rack time, and they all knew she meant it. None of them were any good to her if they couldn’t think. She placed a mug of tea carefully on her desk as she sat down to go back over her manifests and portion them out to some of her independent haulers. She sighed. The tea was herbal, supposed to help insomnia. She felt more than awake. She felt wired.

  She looked up at the insistent beeping coming from her hatchway door. Ari kept her lights dimmed, except for the lights above her bed. She’d changed for the night already, wearing shorts and a gym shirt. Her white robe stretched out on the only chair in the room. She put it on, as she asked for a comm ID.

  Carnes, Caden.

  Her eyes rose in pleading at the ceiling of her cabin. She belted the robe and pressed accept on the door panel. The hatch slid open to reveal Caden, freshly showered and visibly nervous.

  “Yes,” she said, expectantly.

  “Ari, may I come in a mom
ent?”

  She looked off down the hall before nodding an assent and stepping back out of his way. She closed the hatch behind him.

  Ari watched him inspect every detail of her quarters. She wondered for only a moment what it must look like to him. Her only real luxury was a vidscreen fireplace that simulated a warm glow in front of a bowled pink chair. Her bed was stark white with deep rich blue and green pillows the shades of the ocean. She had a large piece of ocean photography from Taarken over the bed. There was only one ocean on the planet, and that not very large. Something she’d put there more because it called for it, than that it reflected much of herself.

  Her quarters weren’t made to be warm. They didn’t exactly reflect who she was either. This was a place where she stayed, not a lived in home. Ari lived a vagrant life, and she never pretended to herself it was anything more. She cherished a secret hope that having Jace aboard would help her feel more at home in space.

  His eyes tracked carefully around the room, and then back to her. “I just wanted to see how you were holding up.”

  “I’m fine.”

  He pushed his hands deep in his pockets, a very Caden gesture. “How’s life been for you, Ari?”

  “It’s been profitable.”

  “Just profitable?”

  She laughed. “Is that so different from what you expected of me? I’m a cargo hauler by trade. My goal is money. Life is profitable, so it’s good.”

  His face registered mixed emotions, confusion and shock. “That does seem more... mercenary than I expected.”

  “Says the man who owns a planet.”

  He looked away, annoyed. “I don’t own the planet, Ari.”

  “Well, as good as, right?” She wandered back over to the clear cabinet that held her only bottle of Taarken whiskey. “Would you like a drink, Carnes? I don’t have much.”

  He shook his head. “No, I need a clear head to go over the salvage reports tonight.”