The Prodigal Sun

by Sean Williams

  said Roche.

 

  As though De Bruyn had sensed the surreptitious conversation, she nudged Roche in the back with the weapon, urging her faster. Roche glanced over her shoulder at the woman, but said nothing. Later, she promised herself. Later…

  Not long after, the five of them turned a corner and entered the bridge. Roche took in the massive room with one quick glance. The ship may have been new, but it still conformed to standard Dato Bloc designs: communications at the center, navigation and telemetry to the left, targeting and security to the right; various subordinate positions scattered around the semicircular sweep of stations below the main screens; opposite the main entrance, a door leading to some sort of private command chamber. The only odd point was the inclusion of a complicated holographic projector where the captain’s podium normally stood.

  Chase guided Haid and Roche into one corner while De Bruyn indicated for Absenger to take the comm.

  “Call Field Lieutenant Hennig,” said the head of Strategy, taking position in the center of the room. “Tell him to bring his ship alongside and send over the boarding party as per the instructions I gave him earlier. He’ll know what to do.”

  Absenger took a seat behind the communications station and put his hand uncertainly on the palmlink, clearly a little unfamiliar with the menial task. De Bruyn retreated to close the bridge’s main entrance. Chase remained behind, standing restlessly by the command podium.

  “I’m sorry, Morgan,” Haid whispered to Roche while De Bruyn was distracted. “I guess I pushed my luck a little too far this time.”

  She shook her head solemnly. “You weren’t to know about the control codes—although I should have guessed De Bruyn had them. She always has something up her sleeve.”

  Haid grimaced. “Not even the Box predicted this one.”

  Roche indicated Absenger, still talking into the communicator. “She was well prepared, I’ll give her that. She even had a backup boarding party ready, just in case. I should have realized she had something planned. Three of Intelligence’s top officers voluntarily boarding an enemy vessel did seem just a little reckless.”

  De Bruyn was suddenly behind them again. “Cut the talk, you two.”

  Haid nodded distantly and tucked his arm behind his back—to all appearances the cowed captive. Roche wondered how much of that was an act, or whether he really had given in.

  The main screen came to life, revealing an image of the distant Intelligence HQ. Six sparks of light flared at one of the many docks as fighters launched to make their way toward the Ana Vereine. De Bruyn nodded in satisfaction at the sight.

  Roche mentally calculated the odds: an escort ship of some kind, maneuvering to come alongside, and six fighters on their way from the station. Even with the edge Maii and Cane gave her, they were hopelessly outnumbered. Without the Box behind them, they were hamstrung.

  But she wasn’t about to give up just yet, regardless of Haid’s apparent acquiescence.

 

 

  Roche’s stomach dropped, remembering how Cane had saved her from Sabra.

  she said.

 

  Thinking furiously, Roche returned her attention to the goings-on around her. De Bruyn had ordered the ship to be moved inside the Riem-Perez horizon. That reduced the options considerably, for no matter who controlled the Ana Vereine, once inside the horizon, there was no chance of slow-jumping out. And warships on station farther out would intercept them before they could turn and reemerge.

  Absenger crossed to the navigation console and fed a course into the main AI. The proposed trajectory appeared on the central screen: a lazy elliptical path leading toward the station’s huge docking bays. De Bruyn was taking them all the way in.

  After a minute or two, Roche felt the floor shift slightly beneath her. The massive engines had come to life; Inertial dampers kept most of the delta-v below the threshold of awareness, however, and soon the impression that the ship was stationary returned.

  De Bruyn turned away with a pleased nod. “Auberon, take security. I want you to track down that reave and the Wunderkind. I don’t want them trying anything stupid when the squad arrives.”

  Chase nodded and left his position to find the correct station. He glanced once at the head of Strategy, but otherwise showed no resentment at being ordered about. Quite clearly, De Bruyn was in control. On the main screen, the Ana Vereine inched along its prescribed path, while the six minuscule dots of the approaching ships rapidly closed.

  “We have to do something,” Roche whispered.

  “I know,” replied Haid. “But I’m out of ideas. This sort of thing isn’t my forte. I’ve always found it better to let the upper hand have its way at first. Things almost never get so hopeless that I don’t manage to escape later.”

  Roche glanced at him sidelong. “‘Almost’ never?”

  He looked sheepish. “Well, they did catch me in the end.”

  “Exactly.” Roche sighed, thinking furiously to herself. If Haid couldn’t help, and Cane’s brute-force approach was bound to land them in hotter water still, and Maii was reluctant to risk De Bruyn’s shields, then it was up to her. There had to be a way…

  Movement from the trio interrupted her thoughts for a moment. Chase was struggling with the security console, unable to comply with De Bruyn’s orders. De Bruyn, no doubt concerned by her ignorance of Cane’s whereabouts, had become impatient.

  “Come on, Auberon!”

  “Don’t give me that,” he snapped back. “I’ve never used this type of console before. It’s a new design.” He bent lower to concentrate on his work. “Just give me a second.”

  De Bruyn shook her head in annoyance and backed away.

  The tableau only lasted a second, but it gave Roche an idea.

  Trying to keep the sudden rebirth of hope from her face, Roche outlined her plan to Maii, who in turn relayed it to Haid and Cane. She was gratified to see the ex-rebel’s eyes widen slightly upon hearing it: if Haid thought it was bold, then chances were that De Bruyn would be taken completely by surprise.

  Not that she needed his approval. She had allowed herself to be led by others for far too long. This was her last chance to keep the freedom she had so briefly won, and she resolved not to miss it.

  When everything was nearly organized, she returned her attention to the main screen. The fighters had already entered an approach formation. The escort ship had to be close, because Absenger had opened the main docking bay ready for the boarding party’s arrival. In another ninety seconds it would be too late.

  The only catch would be if Chase managed to master the security system before she was ready.

  whispered Maii.

  Clenching her teeth, Roche thought:

  Chase suddenly jerked upright at the security station. “I’ve got it!” he cried.

  De Bruyn took a few steps towards him. “Well?”

  Chase hesitated over the console. “There he is—right outside the bridge!”

  “Lock the doors,” De Bruyn called to Absenger as she moved instantly to Chase’s side. “Where? Show me!”

  Chase pointed at the screen in front of him with an expression of triumph and fear. Roche tensed, unable to see what the head of Intelligence was pointing at. “See? He must have come out of that life support duct further up the corridor. And that thing he’s carrying—looks like some sort of cutting tool. He’s going to try to burn through the door!”

  De Bruyn stared at the screen in disbelief, then at Chase. “What
are you talking about? There’s no one there!”

  “What do you mean?” Triumph drained from Chase’s face, leaving only fear. “There! Look!”

  De Bruyn did look—and Roche felt the tension ease slightly. The plan was working, so far.

  De Bruyn suddenly turned to face Roche, anger naked on her face.

  “Call the reave off,” she hissed. Then, moving up behind Roche, she pressed the barrel of the weapon into her cheek. “Call her off or I’ll—”

  At that moment, a grill halfway across the bridge exploded from the wall. As though fired from a cannon, it flew almost horizontally through the air, colliding with a console in a shower of sparks.

  Cane’s feet followed the grill from the vent, thumping solidly onto the deck. With two steps, he was halfway over to them, his eyes fixed upon the head of Strategy as though no one else were present in the room. He was unarmed, but his every movement displayed the potential for violence.

  De Bruyn backed away a step, shifting the pistol from Roche so that it was targeted directly at Cane. She clearly had no intention of giving him any opportunities.

  Roche spun, her right hand raised to sweep the pistol aside. A single energy bolt, fired by reflex, flashed past her shoulder, burning a hole in her shipsuit. Before De Bruyn could follow the shot with another, Roche jabbed one hand into the woman’s solar plexus, then slammed a second punch to the side of her head. De Bruyn staggered and fell back, arms raised to protect her face. She was still holding the gun, however, and as it started to come up, Roche braced herself on her left foot and kicked the pistol from her hand.

  De Bruyn dropped to her knees. Roche backed away, tensed to strike again if the need arose. Cane scooped the pistol from the ground and turned it on the three Intelligence officers.

  “Nice work, Morgan,” he said, nodding in admiration. “You didn’t need me after all.”

  “No offense, Cane,” said Roche, “but that was the idea.” She faced Haid. “Ameidio, tie them into the chairs. Use their uniforms, anything, just make sure they can’t move.” Then, noticing Chase’s vacant expression, she added, “You can let go of him now, Maii.”

  The head of Intelligence sagged, then turned in shock to Roche. “You—?”

  Cane hauled him away by the collar of his uniform with little effort. The head of Intelligence blanched visibly at the sight of Cane and tried to pull away, but Cane’s grip was too strong, forcing him down into a chair without any possibility of resistance.

  When she was satisfied that the Intelligence officers were secure, Roche turned to the navigation console, placed her hand on the palmlink, and began to work.

  “You’ll never escape.” De Bruyn glared at her as Haid bound her arms with strips of fabric torn from her jacket. “The fighters are too close. And you’re inside the Shield—so you can’t slow-jump your way clear.”

  “Be quiet.” Roche didn’t turn, concentrating solely on fine-tuning the course. She didn’t entirely trust the shipboard Ais to do it for her. “If escape was what I wanted, I’d kill you now and get it over with.”

  The Ana Vereine shifted orientation ponderously as its attitude jets burned. On the main screen, she caught sight of De Bruyn’s escort ship, a simple Marine transport, firing its own jets as it frantically tried to avoid collision. Five of the fighters scattered in an attempt to avoid the swinging hulls, but one was caught too close. As Roche raised the E-shields, it disintegrated with a small puff of light—felt through the bulkheads as a muffled explosion.

  “This is treason, Commander!” De Bruyn struggled furiously at her bonds.

  “I haven’t even started yet,” said Roche calmly, her attention still upon the main screen.

  As the fighters peeled away, the Ana Vereine’s AI had time to consider her next request. Thrusters flared, and the main drive surged; the ship began to rotate around its long axis as the axis itself shifted. Inertial dampeners struggled to cope with mounting centrifugal forces as the ship’s rate of rotation increased to ten full turns a minute, then even higher. When it had achieved its final bearing, the rate was once every two seconds.

  The main screen was a mess of spinning dots. Roche cleared it with a brief mental instruction, and suddenly the Marauder’s bearing became clear. She had locked onto Absenger’s earlier course to the station’s docking bays, tightening it to a straight run under maximum thrust.

  “You’re insane!” Chase gasped. “Turn the ship, you fool, or we’ll all be killed!”

  “Exactly.” Roche instructed the main engines to continue firing. Then, removing her hand from the palmlink, she stepped back from the console to face the three Intelligence officers. Behind her, the Ana Vereine straightened along its predetermined course, aimed like an arrow at the heart of Intelligence HQ.

  “We have roughly five minutes before we hit,” said Roche. “In case you’ve forgotten, right behind the docking bays is life support control. I’ve given the ship enough angular momentum to tear it apart after impact. The fragments should destroy something like thirty percent of the infrastructure, along with a large portion of the core as well. If life support fails—as I expect it will—then everyone will die. And even if it doesn’t, HQ will be unsalvageable. That gives me a fairly strong position to negotiate from, doesn’t it?”

  “You’re bluffing,” said De Bruyn, her face pale. “You’ll never go through with it.”

  “Really?” Roche turned back to the navigation console and raised the pistol. Three rapid blasts from the weapon quickly reduced the console to smoldering slag.

  Haid stepped over to Roche’s side, staring at the ruined console in disbelief. “What have you done?” was all he could manage.

  Ignoring him, Roche turned to face her captive audience once again. “It’s out of my hands now,” she said. “You brought us inside the horizon, so there’s no chance of slow-jumping out. I have as little choice as you.”

  “What do you want?” asked Chase. His voice rasped in his throat, and his eyes were wide.

  “The codes to reactivate the Box, of course,” Roche said, answering Chase’s question while staring at De Bruyn. “We all know that you can’t kill an AI—not really. Nor would you if you could. This particular AI cost the Armada far too much for that. It’s dormant for the time being, but still plugged into inputs. Give it the codes, and it’ll come back to life. And when it does, it’ll bypass the main console and change course.” She glanced at the screen. “If you don’t, then in about four minutes we will all die.”

  De Bruyn’s expression was grim. She studied Roche for a few seconds before saying, “Then I guess we’ll just have to die.”

  “Page,” said Absenger uneasily. “This is hardly the time to call her bluff. Just give her—”

  “No!” snapped De Bruyn. “I’m not going to give her the command!”

  “Then we’ll just sit here and wait.” Roche watched the screen for a moment, studying the flow of information. The Marine transport had swung away in a long curve that was taking it beyond the Riem-Perez horizon, and those few Armada warships patrolling the sector just across the Shield boundary were too far away to interfere. However, there were still the fighters to reckon with.

  She looked quickly at Haid, only to find his gaze fixed on the wrecked console. An understandable reaction, but of no use to her now. She needed another option.

  “Cane, those fighters are going to try to deflect us. Come with me.”

  Haid came alert at once and took half a step forward. “He doesn’t have a palmlink.”

  “He won’t need it. With his reaction rate, manual will do. Remember the Wunderkind in Palasian System…”

  Turning her back on the Intelligence officers, she led Cane to the targeting console and rapidly showed him how to work it. The Dato cannon operated on the same principle used for decades; a complicated screen gave vectors and positions of the fighters plus views from various points on the hull. The weapons AI coordinated the full range of data and assessed optimum targets. On the manual sett
ing, however direct real-time imaging and a simple control system, designed for rapid use during an emergency, fired the cannon.

  Cane adapted quickly. Within moments, fierce bolts of energy stabbed at the Armada squadron, picking one of them out of the sky and turning it into ashes.

  “Three minutes,” she said, turning back to De Bruyn. “Care to negotiate now?”

  “Never,” said De Bruyn, although she seemed less sure of herself.

  Bound into the chairs on either side of her, Absenger and Chase kept their silence. Absenger’s face was pale and his gaze fixed on the main screens, but Chase, despite his obvious fear, remained alert, straining at his makeshift bonds and swinging his attention from De Bruyn to the screens and back again.

  “Even apart from dying,” Roche said, “you know that it would be in your best interest to give me the codes. You’re as afraid of the Wunderkinds as we are. Let us go, and we can track the one in the Palasian System for you.”

  “Why should you want to do that?” said De Bruyn, keeping her eyes firmly on Roche.

  “Because we’d like to find out as much as we can about Cane’s origins,” said Roche. “And what better way of doing so than through one of his own kind?”

  De Bruyn snorted, but her eyes flicked back to the screen. “And what does Intelligence stand to gain from all of this?”

  “Any information we pick up along the way can be relayed to you here. That way, you won’t be risking any of your own people.”

  “No?” De Bruyn sneered. “You’ll be roaming through the COE unchecked. Who’s to say what you’ll do?”

  “If you leave us alone, we’ll return the favor. All you have to do is give us the Box, and we’ll leave.” A muffled rumble echoed through the ship as the fighters fired upon the Marauder. Then another rumble, this time as one of the fighters came too close and paid the price. “Delay any longer, and we’ll have to start negotiating for repairs as well.”

  “Listen to her, Page!” Absenger pleaded. “She’s making sense. You know she is!”

  “No!” Chase’s sudden shout took them all by surprise. “We can’t risk letting HQ fall into the hands of people like this! Better to see it destroyed than perverted—”