“Give us a rundown again of what you expect this weapon to do.”
Bannis nodded. “It will send an intense burst of gamma radiation in a single direction. That radiation would be powerful enough to penetrate the shields of any ship we have ever flown, killing all who fall within the beam.”
“What kind of radius are we talking about?”
“At fifty kilometers, a hundred meters. At five hundred kilometers, a kilometer. At five thousand kilometers, the power has dropped by 90% while the area effected moves out to fifty kilometers across, although it may no longer have the energy to penetrate some of our better shielding.
Harris smiled. “A thousand kilometers. I can almost get the Bangor in to that before being detected. Is there a delivery mechanism for this?”
“There is. A hyper missile. It can reach the speed of our ship drives for a short burst. We can work another thousand kilometers of standoff if utilizing the missile for propulsion.”
“That sounds fantastic. When can we have a couple?”
“Once the research is complete, we can evaluate the production side of this endeavor.”
“What’s the word on our freighters?” Harris asked.
“Moving along nicely. The schedules remain the same. The entire space factory is operational and work on the first unit continues. Installation of the cannons at the Retreat are almost complete. And while we’re on the subject, I have a new pair of rails to be installed on the Bangor, along with a few circuit updates. This will increase the power again over our latest update.”
“Music to our ears, Mr. Morgan. Do we pick those up or do you install them there?”
“Not here, Mr. Gruberg. I can have them out to the docks at the Retreat in say… four hours?”
Harris nodded. “We’ll be there.”
“When you arrive, wait for my signal before coming in. The DDI have had several ships out there of late. Would rather you not have an encounter if possible.”
“Consider it done. And thanks again for all you do, Mr. Morgan. You’ve kept us in this game.”
“Let’s just hope time doesn’t expire before we achieve our goals.”
The comm closed.
Chapter 17
_______________________
Four hours later, the Bangor and the shuttle, newly named the Gooch, popped through a wormhole from Midelon. After a short wait, a signal was received from an associate of Bannis Morgan. The docks were clear, and a host of workers were ready to implement the rail update.
Harris and Tawn, followed by Farker, stepped down onto the deck of Bay 14. Bannis Morgan’s man was standing at the wait.
“Mr. Gruberg?”
“That would be me.”
The man waved a hand. A dozen workers moved several large pieces of equipment, parking them just in front of the ship.
“We’ll have those changed out in about twenty-five minutes. Mr. Morgan had us practice on an old hull that he has. Looks like this one is in good shape.”
Harris nodded. “She does the job. Hopefully with this update she’ll do it a little better.”
The man held out his hand. “Karl Stromber. This update should help more than a little. The rails alone should allow the transference of three times the energy to those pellets. With the circuit updates you’ll likely be taxing your reactor’s ability to provide power for the first time.”
“Sounds more like a major update.”
“It is. And it cost the lives of two of our engineers during our one and only test fire. Best we can figure is a rail was misaligned and the energy transferred to the housing instead of the pellet. Aside from the lives lost, it caused extensive damage to our testing facilities. Has taken a lot of credits and much of our pull in the capital to put off an investigation.”
Tawn said, “Mr. Morgan didn’t mention any of that to us. We’d be happy to assist with financing the rebuild.”
“No need. The facility was being closed due to the budget cuts.”
Harris asked, “So what kind of power should we get out of this new system?”
Karl shrugged. “We aren’t certain. Theoretically… almost five times the speed. But there are several variables associated with those estimates. It could be off by a factor of two in either direction.”
Tawn said, “That would put us on equal footing against a cruiser or destroyer as far as standoff distance. Only our destructive power would be far greater.”
Karl nodded. “It’s almost terrifying. Such a weapon would way unbalance the scales. If in the hands of the Earthers, it might mean the end of us all.”
Harris scoffed. “End of us all? Of them maybe. Why would we not implement this fleet-wide?”
“Earther spies are everywhere, Mr. Gruberg. We roll out something like this and three months later it will be on half their fleet. Our side won’t make use of it. They will. Mr. Morgan contemplated not bringing it out at all. So he asked me to tell you that whatever you do, you can’t allow this ship to fall into the hands of the Earthers. Understood?”
“We understand.”
Karl moved on to direct the workers performing the update.
Harris stood with his arms crossed. “How about that. Our little Bangor might just be able to take out an Earther warship in a one-on-one fight. If this works, we may have to pay another visit to Eden. Draw out those ships parked there and we could take them out one by one.”
Tawn shook her head. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As Karl said, they aren’t certain of what it will achieve.”
Harris nodded. “I guess we’ll find out just as soon as we’re out of here.”
A comm came in from Gandy. “Mr. Gruberg, we have a ship just showed on the nav display. It’s big.”
“Big as in warship or freighter?”
Trish replied, “Positively identified as the Ceclips. DD destroyer 1447N.”
Harris frowned. “Crap. We’re in the middle of this. How long before it reaches here?”
“Twenty minutes maybe.”
Harris called out, “Karl! We have an incoming warship!”
The Hosh-Morgan engineer nodded and turned back to the task at hand. The workers began to scramble.
Trish came over the comm: “Hang tight. We’re gonna try to distract them.”
Tawn replied, “What? That’s a bad idea.”
Trish said, “Too late. I just flipped our distress alert. They are coming our way.”
“And when they get there?”
“I’ll tell them I didn’t realize it was on. Gandy is disconnecting the interior circuits for the horn and lights. And… they’re off.”
Tawn said, “You do realize the DDI is looking for both of you, right?”
Trish was silent for a moment. “I thought they didn’t care about us.”
“They care because you’re associated with two persons who assaulted a DDI agent.”
Trish took a deep breath. “Too late to turn back now.”
Harris said, “You can outrun them in that ship. It should be faster.”
“Sorry, too late for that. We were kind of heading toward them.”
Harris asked, “Karl, what’s your time to complete?”
“Twelve to fourteen minutes.”
Tawn said, “Gonna be cutting it close if they come on in.”
Trish came over the comm. “I just talked to one of their officers. Told her we were fine and we didn’t realize the alert had been triggered. They wanted to board to check, but we were able to convince them it wasn’t necessary. And I added that if we didn’t get our daddy’s ship back on time he would be furious. They’ve just waved us on. Sorry, that’s all the time I could buy you.”
Harris walked over to Karl. “What can we help with?”
Karl shook his head. “Circuit updates are in. All we have left is rail alignment.”
“Will she fly?”
“Yes.”
“Then button everything up. We’ll get the alignment done later. We can’t be here when that destroyer arrives.
”
“Two minutes. Get aboard. I’ll yell through the door when you’re ready. And, Mr. Gruberg, whatever you do, don’t fire that weapon until that procedure is complete. I’ve left a copy of it on your system just in case.”
“In case what?”
“In case you can’t return. This team is the only one we have trained to do this. We’ll be leaving following your departure. We will have to arrange a time for us to return.”
Harris followed Tawn aboard. “This is turning into a mess. We should have hauled them out to Midelon and let them do it there.”
Tawn sat, strapping herself into her seat. “Not a good idea.”
“Why’s that?”
“We have a DD destroyer bearing down on us. You think that’s just bad luck? One of Karl’s crew could easily be DDI. Or somebody on this dock facility.”
Karl slapped the side of the Bangor. “Move out!”
The hatch closed and sealed as the drive came online. Karl Stromber’s team hustled away, heading for their own ship as the Bangor rose to a hover. After moving through an airlock, the small cargo-shuttle blasted out into space, moving away from the incoming destroyer.
Trish opened a comm. “We’re jumping to the other side of the Retreat. I’m sending the coordinates. Come get us when you’re ready to head home.”
A hail came over the general comm. “Unidentified ship, this is the Domicile Defense destroyer Ceclips. Stop your drive and prepare to be boarded.”
Harris asked, “How we looking?”
“Just out of range,” said Tawn. “Keep going. We can jump back to get the Gooch when ready.”
Harris chuckled. “Whose name was that?”
“That would be Sharvie’s. It was her first ship name. She named it after her cat.”
“She had a cat? She a pacifist like the rest of that warped colony?”
Tawn smirked. “Warped colony. Can’t believe you said that. You actually like those people.”
“I kinda do, when they aren’t bent outta shape. We’re due for another run back there to check on the equipment we ordered.”
“I think we need to handle this rail thing before going anywhere. I don’t like being completely unarmed.”
Harris returned a half smile. “Not completely. We have a slug and a stump on board. That has to account for something.”
“Only in our minds.”
Hails continued until the Bangor was safely away. Jumping to the coordinates provided by Trish, they collected the brother and sister. A further jump had the outlaws back at Midelon.
Gandy read the alignment instructions. “We could do this.”
Trish glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t know. Looks complex. And we’d have to build our own tools.”
Harris said, “Let me give Mr. Morgan a comm. We can meet his team out there whenever they’re ready to finish up. Would rather have it done the right way.”
Gandy crossed his arms. “OK. But I think we could handle this. And what if we need to do it in the future?”
Harris chuckled. “When would that be? You planning to update those rails for us?”
“No. Just saying it wouldn’t hurt.”
“Unless you mess up and we explode into a million pieces.”
“Fine.”
A comm was opened to Bannis Morgan.
“Mr. Gruberg,” said Bannis, “I have bad news. Mr. Stromber and his crew were detained. They are all being held for questioning as to what they were doing out there working on your ship. It’s a felony, and will put each of them behind bars for up to two years. The techs don’t know about the capabilities of those new rails. Mr. Stromber does.”
“You think he’ll talk?”
“Don’t know. He’s a good man, but he has a family to support. I was sent a status that the alignment wasn’t completed. If so, I no longer have a team capable of doing that.”
Harris looked back at Gandy with a half scowl. “Looks like we fall back to you. You sure you can do this?”
Gandy nodded. “Fairly sure.”
Harris chuckled. “Great. Mr. Morgan, thanks for your efforts. Looks like we’ll be doing this here.”
“Good luck, Mr. Gruberg. I would suggest you triple-check your work on this. And then check it again.”
The comm closed.
Harris let out a deep breath. “You two are up.”
Gandy stood. “We can handle this.”
The better part of a day was spent studying the alignment procedure. The twins argued repeatedly, putting Harris on edge. The fighting ended as the actual work began.
Tawn stood in the bay doorway of the shop. “Cats and dogs until they get working.”
“We need this to work,” Harris said.
Tawn laughed. “Yeah. If it doesn’t though, we’re not gonna be around to care.”
“I guess that’s true.”
“Maybe we deserve this.”
“What?”
Tawn chuckled. “Well, we’ve left quite the trail of destruction behind us. Loads of Earthers, our own spies getting killed, Morgan’s engineers blown up—this latest crew heading to jail. All because of us.”
“Not because of us—other than the Earthers on Eden we killed, they were directly because of us. But the others… we can’t control everything that happens around us. We just have to do the best we can and keep trying to move forward.”
Gandy looked up from several pieces of equipment. “These say the rails are already in alignment.”
“Check it again,” Harris said.
Trish replied, “We’ve checked twice.”
“Again.” Harris pointed.
Gandy stood, walked the perimeter of the ship, and hopped up into the cabin. Two minutes later he emerged. Manual says the rails are self-aligning.”
Tawn said, “Check again anyway.”
Trish came back a minute after. “Calibration check shows exact numbers. Down to a hundred-thousandth of a millimeter. They are dead-on.”
Harris sighed. “I guess that only leaves us with a test.”
Tawn began to follow, bringing Harris to a stop. “Only one of us needs to go. You stay here with Farker and the others. I’ll take a few practice shots at the moon up there. I’ll keep a comm open where you can watch.”
Tawn returned a scowl. “Check all the parameters before pushing that trigger. We don’t want a foul-up to be because of your foul-up.”
Harris nodded as he sat and strapped himself in. “Take Farker to the supply hut and have him display the comm image. You might as well be comfortable while I blow myself up.”
The hatch closed as the Bangor levitated. A slow flight away was followed by the usual fireball as the ship raced up through the atmosphere. The others settled in the supply hut as an image came to life above their robotic dog.
Harris said, “Six minutes. Grab yourselves a beverage.”
Trish took a seat on a bench. “You should power on the rail circuits. Read back what they’re reporting to me.”
“OK. Circuits are on. Currents show ‘Balanced.’ Feed is active. And our mystery gauge is… down. Hmm. Only shows two hundred twenty. We were at a thousand.”
Trish frowned. “That doesn’t sound right. Wait… the alignment procedure says to turn off the safety-lockout when done. Is it still on?”
“Yes.”
“Off please.”
“Done.”
“What’s it say now?”
“Two hundred and thirty.”
Trish sighed.
Gandy said, “There’s a symbol on the bottom of that gauge. What’s it read?”
“M.”
“Big M or little M?”
“Big.”
Gandy turned to face his sister. “That can’t be right either. Two hundred thirty megajoules?”
Trish figured in her head. “Over a thousandth of a second? That’s insane power. Mr. Gruberg, make sure that lap belt is tight.”
Gandy added. “And I’d take that first shot from a distance.”
Tawn said, “Just be careful. We need that ship in one piece.”
“Thank you for the concern over me.”
Harris took aim at the Midelon moon. “Slowing for the shot. OK. Here we go. Pellet is in the breach. And…”
The image on the display shook violently for only a moment before going blank. The comm had been lost.
Tawn stood. “Farker, reestablish that comm if you could, please.”
A single fark was returned.
Gandy stood. “We should go up and check.”
Trish nodded. “Yeah.”
Tawn sighed. “Come on.”
They boarded the Gooch and were soon on their way toward the moon.
Trish asked, “Anything on the nav sensor?”
Gandy shook his head. “If the ship’s still together, it’s doubtful we’d see it anyway. That’s good, right?”
Five minutes of anxiety passed before the ship came into view.
Tawn said, “His bracelet should work from here. “Harris? You there?”
Nothing but silence was returned for what seemed like an eternity. “Sorry, was trying to get my power back on. Cabin’s full of smoke.”
Chapter 18
_______________________
Several runs were made planetside to retrieve the tools needed for a short-term repair. After a transfer from the shuttle and an hour of rewiring circuits, the Bangor again came to life.
Gandy sat in the pilot’s seat. “I’ll take us in.”
Trish yelled, “Hold up!”
Gandy turned. “What is it?”
“Dampener field is down. You hit that throttle and you’ll flatten us all.”
“Controls shouldn’t allow that.”
“Except for the fact that we just bypassed half of them.”
A switch was flipped. “OK, what’s the indicator say?”
“Green.”
Trish nodded. “Take us home.”
The Bangor settled on the grass beside the bay door of the shop. Harris hopped out, heading toward the supply hut.
Tawn asked, “You OK? Where you going?”
Harris glanced over his shoulder. “Hungry. I assume they’ll be at that for a while.”
ARMS Jebwa Atrocity Page 16
