Harry Heron: No Quarter

by Patrick G Cox

  “Captain on link for you, Lieutenant.” Warrant Carolan signalled.

  “Captain Haakon, we have a problem. Someone aboard this ship is trying to access Navigation and the drives from portable terminals. We’re blocking them, but I need backup to find these people.”

  “Very good, Lieutenant, I will send a detachment of Marines to you immediately. Keep things locked down until they get there.”

  Chapter 36 – Unwelcome Passengers

  Harry isolated and disabled every terminal and access port outside of the control centres. Then he scanned the data nodes and discovered that the network had been instructed to withhold certain functions and information.

  He changed his approach, projecting into the AI’s programs the idea that he, being part of it, should be given access. Then he reversed the blocks.

  “I’ve found the blocks and removed them, ma’am, but—”

  Everything lurched as the hyperpods burst into life and the ship dived into hyperspace.

  “That’s torn it. Damn.” The Lieutenant huffed in irritation. “Mr O’Connor, shut the drives down, please. Harry, where are we headed?”

  “I have no idea, ma’am!” exclaimed Harry. “The ship’s own system is not guiding us. In fact, it seems unaware we’re in transit.”

  “My controls are not responding, ma’am,” Ferghal replied on the comlink. “And the AI is unable to access the drives.”

  “Damn! Mr Heron, try to get a navigational reading please. Mr O’Connor, track down the loss of communication with the hyperpods and manoeuvring. See if you can bypass it somehow.”

  The Lieutenant broke off as a voice interrupted the ship’s communication system.

  “Attention Fleet boarders. We have taken control of the drives and the navigation system. You are to surrender immediately and return this ship to my control. I am taking this ship to meet our main fleet, and if you fail to hand her back to me as a representative of the owners, I will have you shot by our troops when we arrive. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Who are you?” demanded the Lieutenant, aware that Harry was concentrating on the AI. She played for time in the hope that he was doing what she thought. “Identify yourselves.”

  “I don’t need to identify myself to you. I am the Master of this vessel, and you have no business attempting to take her. Lieutenant, you have a simple choice: we have control of the ship, and you and your people can surrender or die. Surrender now and I’ll think about letting your people stay alive until I can hand you over to Consortium troopers. Interfere, and my people will cut you down without blinking.”

  The Lieutenant looked across to where Harry was holding up a page torn from the notebook he always carried. In large block letters he had written, I HAVE AMENDED THE COURSE AND LOCKED THEM OUT. He turned the sheet over to show her the other side: I DO NOT THINK THEY WILL NOTICE FOR A WHILE. Lieutenant Orloff opened her mouth to ask how when she realised that the comlink was still active. She stalled. “I will have to consider my position,” she said to the man who called himself the master of the ship. “Give me some time to think on this.”

  “Think all you like,” he mocked. “You aren’t in control. Try anything clever and you’ll regret it. I don’t know how you locked us out of the ship’s systems before, but you’d better unlock them and surrender or it’ll be the worse for all of you. I’ll give you thirty minutes to talk to your people. I expect compliance. “

  Lieutenant Orloff looked at Harry and raised her eyebrows in a question.

  Harry nodded. “The audio system is disengaged, ma’am. I have amended the course they set. The ship is now on a heading that will take us to Earth. I couldn’t alter toward Pangaea or anywhere we could return to our squadron. That would have been a major shift of course, which they would have noticed immediately. As it is, they will notice the change of heading and the coordinates as soon as they think to check their progress. Do you wish me to leave it, or should I return control to them, ma’am?”

  “Leave it as you have set it. Have you got a name on the Captain yet?”

  “Aye, ma’am. It is the original Captain. His name is Heemstra, Hendrik Heemstra. He is wanted for a war crime, but I am unable to discover what it was.”

  “Heemstra?” Lieutenant Orloff nodded. “Yes, you’re correct on the war crime. I know all about that bastard. He had something to do with the capture of a freighter last year.” She frowned as she recalled the incident. “This ship in fact! He ordered the captured crew confined in a hold then he vented the atmosphere. We have a problem here. He won’t be happy when he discovers you’ve changed the course.” Pausing to think, she asked, “Can you eavesdrop on them without their knowing? And how did you get into their network? I thought they’d isolated it from the neural net.”

  “Aye, ma’am,” replied Harry. “They had, but by opening the communications they gave me a way in. I can listen to them at any time. Right now they are discussing how they will split up and work their way round the doors we have locked down.” He gave a tight smile. “There seems to be some disagreement.”

  IN THE COMMAND CENTRE ABOARD THE DGK there was a moment of consternation as the Twee Jonge Gezellen’s hyperpods lit up and the ship vanished into the singularity she had just opened.

  “What?” exclaimed Captain Haakon when he lost communication with his prize crew. “Navigation, secure a trace on her, schnell! Follow her into transit, and try to get a lock on her track.”

  The ship lurched into her own singularity and entered transit on roughly the same bearing as the escaping freighter. The ScanRates worked like men possessed as they tried to locate and lock onto a trace for the freighter.

  “No contact, sir. She may have doubled back on entry. There is too much background noise, and the power traces disperse rapidly. If she is not in sight, we have no way of finding her.”

  Harry’s adjustment to the course had compounded the problem for the DGK since it put the ship on a course a full one hundred and eighty degrees away from the heading of the searching cruiser.

  “Verdammt!” Captain Haakon glared at the blank displays, the swirling grey mists of hyperspace the only thing visible. “Navigation, return us to the squadron rendezvous.” Seating himself again, he paused to gather his thoughts. “Contact Fleet. Report our capture of the Twee Jong Gezellen and her escape with our prize crew.”

  He could only hope the ship would be intercepted and his people retrieved.

  “Rheinhard, send the Marine Lieutenant to me. I want to know how they could hide a crew!”

  Commander Pösen nodded. “It is done, sir. We have done everything possible for the ship to be found.”

  “I do not hold out any great hopes for that, Rheinhard. With Heemstra possibly still aboard, we can only hope that our prize crew will be safe when she arrives at her destination, wherever that may be.”

  “YOU SAY THEY’RE ARGUING AMONG THEMSELVES? That could be helpful.” Lieutenant Orloff considered. “How did you get into their system? Can’t you return us to where the DGK is?”

  “To speak to us, they had to link into the ship’s neural net, ma’am. That link allowed me to go back through their system, as we were to be linked to the DGK’s helm for the transit that they had not provided the coordinates to yet, ma’am.” Harry hesitated. “They are using a small semi-portable system that must be from a shuttle. It is not very sophisticated and cannot control the ship’s fusion reactors. If you desire it, Ferghal could shut down the reactors and deprive the ship of all power.”

  “Now that’s a thought, but it would deprive us of power as well. No one actually knows what happens when you lose power to the drives in hyperspace, and I don’t think I want to find out just yet.” She paused, thinking fast. “We’ll keep that one up our sleeves for now. Can you identify where they are exactly?”

  “Aye, ma’am,” replied Harry. “The ship has several concealed spaces that show up on the ship’s schematic in the networl if you search the hidden data. The a
fter end of each of the holds has a false bulkhead with an access from the hold, but I cannot tell exactly what that is. There is quite a large space behind each of these, and four of the eight are equipped for accommodation. Captain Heemstra and his people are in the spaces in holds six, seven and eight, ma’am.”

  “Okay, so if they are hiding there, how do we get access to them or smoke them out?”

  “Ma’am?”

  “Sorry, I meant is there some way we could get them out into the open, something we could initiate so we know where they are likely to come out?”

  “I can check with Ferghal, ma’am. He may have some ideas since all the services run through the service tunnels between holds one and eight, and the backup systems between four and five on the other side. Perhaps we could reroute all the power and command systems to the alternate tunnel.”

  “Ask Ferghal. You concentrate on what they are planning. Sheoba, contact Ferghal and see what he can do about Harry’s suggestion.”

  While Sheoba spoke to Ferghal, Harry concentrated on the AI again and listened to a heated debate between the Consortium crewmen.

  THE ARGUMENT OVER CAPTAIN HEEMSTRA’S PLAN to dispose the Fleet personnel continued. Several of his people were aware of the Captain’s previous record and were unwilling to be party to another such event. Listening to them, Harry searched for clues as to where the entry and exit points from these concealed spaces might be hidden. Eventually he was rewarded when one of the Captain’s supporters ordered several men to leave the compartment via the exit to the main service tube to seize the Command Centre.

  Alerted to the fact the hidden compartments all connected to the service tube, he warned Lieutenant Orloff of the intended attack.

  “Right, now we know where they are and how they got there.” She thrust herself out of her chair and stood with hands on hips, her expression angry. “Time to lay a little surprise for them.” Looking around, she ordered, “Warrant, you, Weimar and Mann come with me, and tell the corporal and his people to meet us at Hatch Alpha Papa Two Zebra. That should allow us to get into the tube where they won’t be able to see us, and it will put us in a position to give them a nasty surprise.”

  “Lieutenant,” Sheoba interjected. “If you will permit, I may hide, and when they pass, I will disable the rearmost.”

  “That’s a thought too. Right, we’ll try it.” She turned to Harry. “What’s their status? Have they entered the tube yet?” She realised something. “Damn, I was forgetting. How much time before this Heemstra fellow expects our surrender?”

  “We have twelve minutes, ma’am,” replied Harry. “They’re opening the tunnel access now, but must first transit the hold, ma’am.”

  “If he wants to talk to me, will I be able to reply from the tunnel?”

  “I think so, ma’am. The tunnels are equipped with communication links. If it is not functioning, I can try to make an excuse for your absence, ma’am.”

  “Good, let’s move people! I want to get in there before they have a chance to get started. Got the weapons, Warrant? Excellent. Let’s go.”

  HARRY CONNECTED WITH FERGHAL THROUGH THE AI. “The Lieutenant is going to try to intercept our stowaways in the service tunnels.”

  “We had best hope she succeeds. There are more of them than we can muster, I think.”

  “I believe you are right, my friend. I cannot access the portable AI they are using to control the drives. It has no connection to the main system. Only the navigation system is accessible.”

  “They must have disconnected the drives completely from the ship or stowed them in a part of the ship that is heavily shielded, because I cannot sense them at all.”

  “Aye, and the man who leads them is in the mould of the worst pirates we heard stories of in our day. Listen to him on the audio links!”

  From what he could hear over the link to the hidden control centre, Captain Heemstra was definitely not a man to tolerate resistance or opposition. His impatient and sarcastic manner was evident in the way he gave his orders and dealt with his own people. From what Harry could hear of them, they were no better either.

  “I do not think I wish to deal with this man on any level. Let us hope he can be overcome before their plans can be put into effect.”

  This Captain Heemstra was exactly the sort of person that Harry loathed — bombastic, intolerant and abusive. Knowing that he was also a mass murderer did not improve Harry’s opinion of him.

  Lieutenant Orloff and her small force deployed quickly. The tube provided a number of options for concealment, and they took full advantage. Sheoba’s ability to disappear against the background astonished the Lieutenant, as she had never seen her do this before. They took their positions just out of sight of the entry hatch where the Consortium men would enter the tube, and they settled in to wait.

  They heard the hatch open then the sound of several people clambering through it. Lieutenant Orloff smiled when she realised they would have some difficulty because they were passing through an area currently bearing twice the normal gravity, and the switch back to normal would throw them off balance.

  Signalling her team, she whispered this information to those closest to her. Noises in the near distance suggested the leaders were moving toward her position. Damn. Wish I knew how many of you bastards there are, she thought. She tried her infrared scanner. Not much help. There seemed to be six figures other than her team members, but one might be Sheoba. The first man passed her, his vision hampered by the low lighting. She felt a little relief when she registered that he wasn’t using any vision enhancement optics. Letting him pass, she prepared to attack the second man when all hell broke loose around the corner as Sheoba acted.

  A blast of plasma struck the deckhead, and Lieutenant Orloff ducked. Raising her weapon, she fired at the nearest figure’s weapon arm. At near point blank, she couldn’t miss. The plasma burned the man’s suit away and his arm to the bone. His weapon clattered to the deck as he screamed in agony.

  To her right TechRate Mann disabled the leader, clubbing him to the deck with a vicious blow. Weimar immobilised the man the Lieutenant had shot, and now he lay writhing on the floor, desperately trying to find relief from the agony in what remained of his arm. Lieutenant Orloff jumped over the struggling pair and dived around the corner to find herself facing an open hatch and one dazed figure struggling weakly to reach his fallen weapon, one arm broken and useless.

  She stepped forward, noting that the man’s face showed signs of having met the bulkhead with considerable force. She used her boot to push the weapon out of reach. About to investigate the hatch, she jumped back as Sheoba shot through it and dropped to her battle stance in front of her.

  The Lacertian’s eyes slowly resumed their normal mild appearance as the battle rage drained from her. “Two have fled to their hiding place, Lieutenant. Do you wish me to pursue them?”

  Recovering her composure, though her pulse still raced, the Lieutenant shook her head. “No, I think we should secure these three, and then you had better keep watch for any others.” To the men with her, she said, “Patch them up and secure them somewhere they can’t communicate with their pals.”

  Contacting the Marines, she ordered, “Corporal, we have three prisoners to bring out. Set up your team to monitor the access points to the holds from the accommodation.”

  Listening to the acknowledgement, she switched channel. “Harry, have you managed to find out how many of these bastards are down there?”

  Chapter 37 – Fight or Die

  Captain Heemstra’s rage made the ship’s AI cringe as Harry eavesdropped. He did his best to soothe it, but was relieved when the Lieutenant returned with just two minutes to the deadline. She took the command chair again.

  “That spoiled their little plan. We have three of their people out of the way and locked up where they won’t be able to do anything for a while. God, that Sheoba is fast! She almost got the other two as well, but they made it back to their
hiding place.”

  “So now they know we have a Lacertian with us.” Harry paused. “I hope they don’t have IR visors.”

  “Damn, I hadn’t thought of that.” She stopped as the communications system came to life.

  “So, Lieutenant, you have chosen to fight,” Captain Heemstra drawled. “Good, that will make this much more enjoyable for me.”

  “I didn’t realise you were sincere in offering safe surrender for me and my crew, Captain Heemstra. Your reputation suggests that anyone who surrenders to you is unlikely to survive to enjoy anyone’s hospitality.” Lieutenant Orloff could barely suppress her smirk.

  At first there was no response. Then, the indifference gone, he snarled, “So you have learned my name. Then you know I don’t play games. I am taking this ship back. The Fleet can’t help you. We outnumber you and have sufficient weapons to do it whichever way you want it. Surrender and your deaths will be quick and painless, but make me do this the hard way, and I’ll make sure every one of your people dies as unpleasantly as possible.”

  Her pulse quickening, the Lieutenant replied, “Thank you for your offer, but I don’t accept it. And now that the odds are in our favour, you may find us a tougher prospect than your last victims.” She hesitated. “I will make you an offer, Captain. Surrender yourselves now and accept defeat, and I will guarantee that no one will be harmed or injured. We don’t kill prisoners of war. If you force me to, we will find ways to reach you and to make sure that you are neutralised and made prisoner. This ship is under my command, and it will stay that way. If you attempt to leave your hiding place, we will know, and I will be forced to take action against you.”

  Monitoring the AI, Harry became aware of an attempt on one of the airtight doors he had disabled. He resorted to his pad and pencil and passed a note to the Lieutenant.

  Heemstra was gathering steam. “Lieutenant, you are a fool. I shall take personal pleasure in killing you myself. No more games. You and your people will die, because that is the only option you’ve chosen.”