Harry Heron: No Quarter

by Patrick G Cox

  “This isn’t a prank, Mr Whitworth,” Lieutenant Haäkinen snapped. “As to who’s behind it, we don’t know that either. In the meantime, Harry and Ferghal may only use an AI interface if one of you is there to supervise it. That’s an order.”

  An angry murmur greeted this.

  “I know it’s unfair,” growled the Lieutenant. “Life’s not fair a lot of the time, and by now you know that. This is a serious business. All you need to know is what I have told you. I don’t like this either.”

  “It’s outrageous,” protested Elize. “This means they are as good as under open arrest!”

  “Yes, that is exactly what it means,” said the Lieutenant. “But it allows us to protect them because now we know they will not be accessing the network. They’re eliminated from suspicion. If anything happens, their actions will not have caused it, and we can set a trap for whoever is doing this.”

  Keiron was unconvinced. “Sir, I doubt the bastard who is behind this will risk exposure now. Why can’t I go and beat the truth out of Barclay? We all know that he and his little toads tampered with Harry’s work files at the College.”

  “Mr Whitworth, you know that can’t be proved. And I most definitely can’t overlook Mr Barclay accidentally encountering your fist, foot, or any other part of you. Is that clear?”

  The Lieutenant’s expression was grim. He despised this kind of business, a distraction foisted upon them by a bunch of troublemakers.

  “The best thing all of you can do for Harry and Ferghal is make sure they have an ironbound alibi from now on. No,” he held up a hand to silence the chorus of protests. “I will not discuss this any further. I will, however, tell you that Commander Diefenbach of the Vanguard has been contacted and has sent this ship’s Communications Officer a special programme that will allow them to track the originator of certain access protocols. It will prove that Harry and Ferghal are innocent of any wrongdoing.”

  He paused.

  “There is one more matter that is very important. Each of you will be assigned to a task for tomorrow’s firing exercise. We are not certain that all the bugs in the system have been found, and it is essential that you are all alert for any, and I mean any, anomaly in any system you are monitoring. And I will add one more thing: you are under no circumstances to talk to anyone outside of this group about the restrictions on Harry and Ferghal, or why. We think the culprit may not be aware that we’re on to this, and we don’t want them to know what we suspect. Is that clear? Mr Whitworth, can I trust you not to take independent action?”

  Keiron grumbled an affirmation of his compliance, and the group broke up to go to their next set of duties, Harry and Ferghal accompanied by Franz and Keiron respectively.

  Chapter 13 – Sabotage

  The restriction on accessing or using an interface with the AI meant Harry could not take an active role in the planned exercise. Instead, he was assigned an observer role with orders to shadow Lieutenant Grosmann at the manoeuvring plot table.

  “Ready in Navigation, sir,” reported the Navigation Officer.

  “Sehr gut. Stand by.”

  Harry listened as Weapons Control confirmed that all was ready, the Scan team reported that the firing range area was clear, and Engineering confirmed that the hyperdrives were online.

  The calm voice of Captain Haakon gave no hint of the tension he felt as he brought his ship into position for the full power firing trials of her main weapons.

  “In position, sir,” the ship’s Chief Coxswain reported.

  “Prepare to fire. Targeting, identify target.” The Captain’s orders stopped, mid-flow. “Was ist das?”

  The three-dimensional display of the planets, asteroids and other objects visible to the ship’s sensors vanished then returned without any of the normal annotations and information displays. Glancing at the console occupied by Frans Eberbach, Harry saw that instead of displaying the star chart for the system, it was blank. His mind raced as the Lieutenant tried to reactivate the star chart without success. Turning to the Navigating Officer, the Lieutenant said, “The system is not responding, sir. It is disabled in some way.”

  “Helm not answering, sir. We have no control from this station.” The other display screens in the Command Centre went dark and inactive. Only the 3D view of space surrounding the ship remained, but without the identifying tags it normally showed for various objects.

  The Captain linked to the Communications Officer.

  “Manfred, we have lost all navigation display as well as the tactical and manoeuvring displays. What is the problem?”

  “Something is jamming the system, sir,” replied Lieutenant Commander Manfred Pösen. “It appears to be some sort of interference screen at local nodes. My men will have to search each node and find the cause of the problem, but it is blocking the system’s ability to respond to the interfaces or to display data onscreen. I recommend a signal for assistance while I do this, sir. The ship will continue to function in failsafe mode while the system takes charge of essential controls to hold us in this position — provided it is not blocked from doing so.”

  “No, I don’t want a signal. I suspect that is what someone is waiting for.” The Captain paused. “Engineering, can you provide manoeuvring power and control of the propulsion systems without the AI?”

  “Jawohl, Herr Kapitän. As long as we have control of the reactors, we can use the emergency manual controls to give you control of the propulsion systems. I will need time to disconnect the network interfaces and rig manual controls — say fifteen minutes.”

  “Gut. Do it and then stand by for further orders.” Turning to the officers, the Captain ordered, “Mr Heron, Herr Eberbach, Lieutenant Grossmann, Lieutenant Haäkinen, follow me. We will manoeuvre the ship from the Observation Centre where we can see where we are going. Bring the navigation tablets.” He activated his personal link. “Manfred, I will need you to keep the communication open between you, me, Engineering, and Weapons while you investigate the cause and restore the system. I am going to Observation and will command from there. I think we are being set up for an ambush.”

  “As you order, sir. There is some neural disruption of key nodes in the system, sir. We are tracing the source now.”

  “Do so, schnell. I think this is a trap.”

  In the open dome, with the stars and deep space visible, the Navigator set up her portable display. “Mr Heron, give me bearings on the nearest planets and moons. Hr. Eberbach, record them please.” She paused. “Kapitän, without the AI, I do not have the means to calculate courses for micro transits.”

  The Captain linked to the Command Centre. “Bring the ship to full battle stations. I want Damage Control closed up as well as all airlocks and main compartment doors.”

  “The weapons are inoperable, and the doors will have to be set manually, sir.”

  “Then do it, schnell. I do not think we have long.” He contacted Engineering. “Have you transferred the drive controls to manual?”

  “Ten minutes, sir, and we will have them ready. Manoeuvring, hyper transit and cruising drives almost ready, sir.”

  “Good. Stand by.” To Lieutenant Grossman, he said, “Sehr gut, Hannelore, it is time to navigate by the stars. Herr Heron may assist you to bring us to this position.” He handed the Lieutenant his tablet and nodded to Harry. “Herr Heron, I am told that you are very good with mathematics. What do you need to make your calculations?”

  “Anything I can write on, sir,” replied Harry, surprised at this question. His mind raced as he considered what he would need. “I will need to make notes for the calculations — but I do not have my logarithm tables here, and I will need them to do this, sir.”

  “Where are they?” demanded the Captain.

  “In my attaché case in my cabin, sir. I could fetch them.”

  “Nein, you will remain here. Tell Herr Eberbach where the case is, and he can fetch it for you.”

  “As you wish, sir.” The ice in H
arry’s voice showed his displeasure at not being allowed to do this himself. “Franz, my attaché case is stowed in my locker. I will also need the pad and pen on the desk, please. You will need my code to open the case.”

  The Captain interrupted. “Just bring the case, Midshipman. I trust Mr Heron. He may open it himself.” He acknowledged Franz’s salute. “Run, please — or walk very fast.”

  IN THE ENGINEERING CONTROL CENTRE, FERGHAL WATCHED in frustration as everyone around him did his or her part to bring the ship into the firing range designated for her exercise. Like Harry he was caught completely off guard by the disappearance of the engineering displays. The Engineering Commander was almost incandescent as the system malfunctioned, but he swiftly ordered his staff to switch to manual controls for all vital functions.

  Lieutenant Commander Reuter shook his head in doubt. “This is risky, sir. We could lose the ability to reconnect and restore control by doing this.”

  “Yes, but we could lose our ship if we do not,” barked the Commander. “I want all essential services and controls disconnected now.”

  He answered his link then turned to his staff. “The Captain wants to manoeuvre by manual control. Herr O’Connor, help Lieutenant Commander Reuter — you too, Herr Whitworth. Schnell, schnell!”

  In the process of disconnecting a part of the network’s multicore harness, one of the Warrant Officers discovered a device that appeared to be independent of any part of the system. He called his Commander.

  “Manfred, I think we have found a part of the problem, but now we may have a bigger one. This is sabotage, and it had to have been done by someone on board.”

  CALLING HARRY TO HER SIDE, THE LIEUTENANT POINTED to the chart display. “We need to calculate the waypoints for the helm that will take us clear of asteroids, the planetary gravity wells and so on. We will need to perform these calculations using the formulae I have here. I have heard it can be done, but I have no experience doing it since College.” She studied Harry as he read the formulae, a frown on his brow. “Can you do it?”

  “I think so, ma’am. If you can provide me with the relevant figures, it should be quite simple.”

  “I have the data. Where do you want to work?”

  Looking round, Harry pointed to a cabinet next to the chart display. “This will do.”

  The Lieutenant smiled. “Sensible. Very well, let’s prepare.”

  “The calculus is complex, ma’am, and the AI uses fifty-figure logarithms against my six-figure tables. I cannot be as accurate as the AI.”

  The Lieutenant shrugged. “That will be sufficient for our purposes. A thousand miles one way or the other should not be a problem as long as we keep clear of the planets.” She hesitated. “In theory this is possible, Herr Heron, but it has only been done in classroom exercises — until now. We make history, I think.”

  She’d barely finished speaking when Franz returned with Harry’s attaché case, slightly flushed and obviously worried.

  “Sir, someone was in Harry’s cabin when I entered the Gunroom — they were trying to break open this case, and I think they may have been trying to put something into it.” Harry’s head came up sharply, and he was about to exclaim his distaste for thieves and annoyance when the Captain cut across him.

  “Can you identify the person? And why do you think they wanted to put something into it?”

  “Nein, Herr Kapitän,” replied Franz. “I couldn’t see his face. He was wearing a mask from a survival suit. He knocked me down and ran past me when I tried to stop him. But he dropped this.” He held out a small device uncannily similar to the one Harry and Ferghal used to cut their connection to the AI, but with one significant difference. This one had a clamp.

  IN AN UNOCCUPIED DAMAGE CONTROL STATION, a flustered and out of breath Midshipman Laschelles confronted Midshipmen Barclay and Miles. “Eberbach caught me in Heron’s cabin. I don’t think he’ll be able to identify me though.”

  “Well, he didn’t obviously,” snarled Barclay. “Did you plant the device in Heron’s case?”

  “No, it was locked, and I couldn’t get it open. Then I thought I could hide it in his cabin, but Eberbach came in before I could do it.”

  “Damn! So where is it now?”

  “I don’t know, I must have dropped it when I had to shove that damned Eberbach out of the way. What was so important about it anyway?”

  “You bloody idiot. Now you’ve really bloody blown it.” Barclay glared at his companion. “If it had been found in Heron’s case, it would have got him into serious trouble. Damn you, Laschelles, can’t you do anything right? Come on, we’d better get back to our stations before we’re missed.”

  “Why are you so set on sabotaging Heron and O’Connor?” asked Miles, hurrying to keep up. “It’s not as if they’re that important.”

  “I’ve got plenty of reasons,” retorted Barclay. “And I don’t have to explain myself to you. Besides, I’m not the only one who knows that your father supplied the network log-ins and codes that you gave to Laschelles.” Barclay glared from Miles to Laschelles. “You’re both in this up to your necks along with me, so don’t try to back out now. Both of you have too much to lose.”

  “Eon, I did my best! How was I supposed to know that Eberbach would be sent to fetch Heron’s case?” Laschelles was almost in tears. “I’m just doing what my father told me to do. I’m trying to help you.”

  “Some help you are,” snarled Barclay. Earlier he’d tried to talk to the man who’d received the activator that had now disabled the ship, and he’d been fobbed off with an order to mind his own business until the ship was taken. His attempt to plant the device in Harry’s cabin had been a spur of the moment desire to take out his frustrations on his enemy. And now it had gone wrong.

  He hurried off to join his classmates at their station, shadowing the main damage control party.

  HARRY FOCUSSED ON THE TASK OF CALCULATING A COURSE using the coordinates the Captain gave him. Working quickly, he converted the figures to their appropriate logarithm and noted this on his pad, adding the integers and then adding, subtracting and converting back to the anti-logarithms.

  Harry worked as fast as he could, careful to check his results, passing each solution to Lieutenant Grossman, who passed it directly to the Helm.

  For her part the Lieutenant was fascinated as she watched. This was, as far as she could recall, the first time she had ever seen anyone using written tables and doing the calculations on sheets of paper. Mentally she made a note to find out how to do this herself when the opportunity arose.

  The ship made a series of small near hyperspeed leaps to the first waypoint, then the next and then a third. Satisfied that he was now clear of the ship’s appointed position, Captain Haakon ordered that a signal requesting assistance be sent, and he provided a coded set of coordinates for the rendezvous. Then, he ordered the next jump in the sequence according to Harry’s calculations. As the ship surged, a lifepod ejected spinning in its wake.

  Minutes later, a Consortium heavy cruiser dropped out alongside the lifepod, its weapons hot to fire. Frustrated by the absence of a target, the Captain ordered the occupants of the pod recovered, leaving the empty unit drifting in space. The three men had a difficult task to reach the open airlock on the cruiser, but as soon as they were in the lock, the cruiser vanished in another hyperjump.

  SAFELY ACROSS THE SOLAR SYSTEM FROM THE POSITION occupied by the Consortium ship, Captain Haakon consulted the latest data from the scanners in the interceptors that formed a defensive screen around the ship.

  “Ach! I thought so,” he noted with satisfaction. “I was right. Someone was waiting for us to call for help.” He activated his link. “Manfred, have you got the system back yet? We have visitors, and we will need to use our weapons very soon, I think.”

  “Ten more minutes, Kapitän. It is difficult because the devices are fitted to nodes, those that control our interfaces and displays. Removing them must be done
carefully, as they could be programmed to destroy the node if tampered with, and there are a great many of them.” He hesitated. “This will not be a simple operation. These things have been installed over an extended period but will have been activated by some form of trigger device. Lieutenant Marx, Warrant Officer Cantano and TechRate Drax are missing. I suspect they are behind this.”

  “Have the lifepod stations searched,” ordered the Captain. “I will continue to manoeuvre on manual, but I think we’re being followed. I want to be fully operational when we meet.” The Captain paused. “One more thing, Manfred. We have recovered a device that might have the capability to signal the Consortium. I will bring it to you when we can resume normal operation. I want it analysed to discover who has used it and what its full function is.”

  The Captain ended the conversation then turned to the watching navigation team. “Now, gentlemen, calculate for me a course to jump us toward our visitor in three steps across this sector.” He marked a series of waypoints on an erratic course that would be difficult for an enemy to predict. Harry bent once more to the task of calculating the courses necessary, his pages rapidly filling with his neat figures and the results. He handed these to Lieutenant Grossmann, and two minutes later the Captain ordered the first leap. The ship’s hyperdrive pods flared briefly to send it on a long diagonal to a point just inside the orbit of Jupiter.

  “Captain,” called Lieutenant Haäkinen, as he controlled the optical arrays with Midshipman Eberbach. “The Consortium ship has jumped. He delayed and may have recovered something.”

  “Good.” The Captain gave orders for the next jump, once more sending the ship on a parabolic swing to the edge of the Kuiper Belt where it stationed near Pluto-Charon. “Report enemy presence,” he ordered as soon as the optical instruments focussed.

  “Nothing on optical, sir,” came the reply.

  “Keep scanning.”

  “Sir,” called Franz. “The electronic scanners are back online. I have a contact, sir, at our last position. A ship has just dropped out.”