The Santana Nexus (Junkyard Dogs Book 3)

by Nolte, Phillip

  "And what about the actual decoupling?" asked Steuben, "How do we do that?"

  "I'll have to head up that part of the operation. Essentially, it comes down to this. The rings are held together by a system of clamps that hold the hubs of the rings together. We simply need to release those clamps. After we do that, there are a series of thrusters arrayed around the outside of each ring. They're fired occasionally to maintain the stability of the station and they're used once or twice a year to reposition the station in case we need to dodge an asteroid or a big piece of space debris or something. We will use the thrusters on the tenth ring to push it away from the rest of the station after we've decoupled it."

  "How hard is that to do?"

  "Releasing the clamping system will be the hardest part. After that, we need to activate the thrusters. As I was saying, there are eight sets of thrusters arrayed around each ring. They're located on the outside of the ring, aligned with each of the spokes, The coordination of the thrusters is all handled by computer, so once we get the ring physically decoupled we'll just need to activate the thruster system to push the tenth ring away from the rest of the station. Once the ring is uncoupled, the enemy will be isolated and therefore a great deal easier to handle. Hell, they might even surrender without much of a fight."

  "We can only hope," said Davis-Moore.

  "The population of the station has been lying low and the Sheik's guards haven't had a lot to do. As a result, they have become rather lax," said Earl, "If we're careful and everyone follows my instructions, we should be able to gather down in the decoupling area without too much trouble."

  "Sounds like we have a plan," said Davis-Moore.

  "Indeed," replied Earl, he paused for a moment and looked back and forth between Davis-Moore and Carlisle before adding, "There is another issue of some importance, however."

  "And that is...?" asked Davis-Moore.

  "We will need to turn off the alarm systems and authorize the separation sequence using the computer systems in the tenth ring hub."

  "How do we accomplish that?" asked Carlisle.

  "We just need to access the computer control room down there and input the proper codes," replied Earl, "Trouble is, they'll never let any of the station's technical personnel get anywhere near that area. They have it locked down tight."

  "Where is this control room located?" asked Carlisle.

  "It's located in the tenth ring spindle hub," said Earl, "Here, let me show you."

  The little architect swiveled his chair over to his computer terminal where he brought up a schematic of the Nexus Station. He moved the cursor, clicked a few keys and the view zoomed in on the tenth ring. A few more clicks and the control room in question became highlighted. "It's right here, just a short way from the number one spoke elevator."

  "I'm familiar with the basic design," said Carlisle, "We used the control rooms in the spindle of the New Ceylon station when we took it back from a terrorist group a couple of months ago."

  "Excellent," replied Earl, "We just need someone to input the proper codes into this console here." On the schematic, the view zoomed in on one of the computer stations. "I have all the codes, do you think you can get access to that that console?"

  "Can you run those computer systems, Steuben?"

  "Are they any different from the ones on the New Ceylon Station?"

  "That's a single ring station, is it not?" asked Earl.

  "Yes," replied Steuben.

  Earl had to think about that for a moment. "The computers are pretty much standard," he replied, "The single-ring stations also require computer-mediated stabilizing systems. The differences are more in the programming. With my codes in hand, it shouldn't be any problem for you. You just need to get past the guards. Once we input the codes, the separation will be a go. They'd need to input the same codes to halt the process and they don't have them."

  "So...we just need to come up with a plan of some kind to get us into that control room," said Carlisle.

  The room was silent for a few moments.

  "How about a restroom malfunction," suggested Steuben, "They'd probably let us right in."

  "What a novel idea!" said Earl, "I believe that can be arranged. I know just the man to talk to!"

  The conspirators chatted for a few more minutes but everyone was more or less satisfied that they knew what they had to do next.

  Chapter 52.

  Santana Nexus Station, ring three, January 13, 2599.

  Their interview with the station architect completed, the infiltrators reversed their course back through the hidden access tunnels and up the staircase to the restaurant. They made their way out through the restaurant and back into the main corridor of the second level.

  The Scrapyard people were about to part ways with Salaam when, as luck would have it, he spotted the same two guards that been harassing him for the last few weeks and had robbed him under the guise of "performing their duty" just a day or so earlier.

  "By the beard of my Uncle Nabhan!" he hissed under his breath. "These two are nothing but trouble. Keep your heads down and if we are fortunate, perhaps we will pass beneath their notice!"

  But it was not to be. The two goons recognized Salaam immediately and came across the corridor to accost him. The chance for them to terrorize a member of their "flock" of victims was apparently too attractive for the two thugs to pass up.

  "Why if it isn't our old friend Salaam Alwahdi," said Sergeant Hajjar, the leader of the two guards. "You're out bit late, aren't you? Where have you been? Quickly now, or we'll have to send you and your friends down for a little visit with the interrogator."

  Carlisle did her best to stay out of sight behind Salaam. Meanwhile the rest of the corridor had rapidly and mysteriously cleared out. In less than thirty seconds, the four of them were virtually alone with the two thugs.

  "Good evening, Sergeant Hajjar," said Salaam, doing his best to keep his voice even, "I treated my daughter and my two friends to dinner at the restaurant across the corridor."

  "You never told us that you had a daughter," said Hajjar. He pushed Salaam roughly out of the way so he could have a better look at the merchant's "daughter."

  Carlisle had begun to mentally prepare herself for action as soon as the Sheik's men had showed up, should any be needed. She flexed her stomach muscles and did her best to stretch her healing ribs so that any sudden move she might need to make wouldn't aggravate her injury. As she often did in situations like this, she also began to pull on her anger to help focus her energy. The nerve of these goons! She stood calmly, getting madder by the moment, but not allowing it to show. Maybe if these idiots left within the next ten or fifteen seconds, no one would get hurt!

  Some men are born foolish and others are born unlucky. In this particular instance, Salaam's tormentors had the great misfortune of suffering from both of these maladies simultaneously. That and they were rather dimwitted to begin with.

  Sergeant Hajjar circled around Carlisle. "I rather fancy a small woman," he said as he looked her over. He then irrevocably crossed the line when he went from looking to touching. As he circled around to Carlisle's right side, he reached down behind her to clumsily grope at her bottom. "She's a bit muscular for my taste but I must say that she does have the most remarkable eyes." He ended his "inspection" standing directly in front of her. "What do you suppose the rest of her face looks like?"

  He reached up and tore the scarf away from Carlisle's face.

  The man froze in shock at what was revealed with the veil torn away. He saw an enraged woman with a feral grimace on her face and a feared Spacer clan tattoo emblazoned across her left cheek.

  His moment of shocked inaction was all that Carlisle needed.

  Just as it was beginning to dawn upon Hajjar that something about this situation was totally wrong, she was upon him!

  Using her combat training and her gymnastics abilities to concentrate the already enhanced power of her Spacer trained muscles, she leaned forward and stepped up
into him, placing one of her hands on each of his shoulders. With her weight temporarily supported by her left leg, she concentrated all of her strength and all of her forward momentum into her right knee, swinging it in a swift and powerful arc that caught Hajjar right between the legs. The vicious blow lifted her would-be assailant a good five centimeters off from the floor! As his feet came back into contact with the deck, he bent forward, doubled over in pain.

  Carlisle, having taken a step back after the initial strike, simply recocked her body and moved in again, repeating the same powerful combination using her left knee, this time catching her attacker full in the face. The man's head snapped back and he sailed over backwards to end up sprawled spread-eagled on the deck. His head made a sickening thud as it made sharp contact with the floor. The Sheik's thug lay there, limp and unconscious, with blood from his nose and mouth streaming down his face. The entire altercation was over in mere seconds.

  His companion, who had been staring in open-mouthed wonder at the spectacle, went down as well after Salaam bent him over with an elbow to the solar plexus and Sergeant Kelly hammered him across the back of the head with one of the potted plants that lined the corridor.

  All of the action was over in less than a minute. The corridor, which had been so quiet before, suddenly saw a flurry of activity.

  "It's about time someone did that!" said a man who appeared at their side, apparently having watched the entire altercation through the front window of his apartment. Several other of the nearby residents also appeared.

  The man who had been first to arrive said, "The four of you should go, quickly! Have no fear, we'll take care of these two scumbags! Go, before more of these goons come calling!"

  One of the residents was already cleaning up the potted plant while several others were grabbing onto the unconscious thugs to drag them off the thoroughfare. Salaam briefly wondered where the two henchmen were being taken and what was going to happen to them but immediately realized that he really didn't care. In the last few weeks, these two men had earned whatever punishment that was dealt out to them many times over. Good riddance! Salaam and the other infiltrators thanked the residents and made their way as quickly as possible from the scene of the altercation.

  They had little time to spare in any case, their task was to gather up the other Federation personnel and get them ready to begin the task of herding the Sheik's minions down on to the tenth ring before they uncoupled that ring from the rest of the station.

  Chapter 53.

  Santana Nexus Station, ring three spindle area, January 13, 2599.

  An hour later, Harley Earl and a contingent of the Junkyard Dogs were ready to begin working on the decoupling process. Earl had been able to get everyone outfitted in Nexus Station uniform coveralls and the invaders were all posing as station maintenance people. An assortment of toolboxes, utility carts and backpacks did an excellent job of concealing hand weapons and other items that might be useful for executing an invasion or performing a partial demolition on a space station. As Earl had promised, the number four spindle elevator was sitting with the doors open and the "out of order" light on the panel over the top of the doors illuminated. The bored guard told Earl what he thought about it.

  "You the elevator maintenance crew?" asked the guard.

  "That's us," replied Earl.

  "Well it's about time! The cursed thing stranded me between floors for more than ten minutes just yesterday!"

  "Sorry to hear that," said Earl, "but that's why we're here." The rest of the "repair crew" said nothing and just nodded their heads and watched as the exchange took place.

  "While you're at it," continued the guard, "the sanitary facilities in this area aren't working so well either."

  Harley Earl made a show out of noting the guard's concerns.

  "This group don't do toilets," said Earl, in a good imitation of a maintenance foreman, "but I'll get my cousin on it right away." He used his handheld communicator, a device that only the Sheik's men and a few selected station maintenance people had been allowed to keep when the Sheik had taken over. "Jeremy? This is Earl, do you copy?" A carefully calculated nine seconds went by before Earl received an answer.

  "This is Jeremy. What's goin' on, Earl?"

  "We got another washroom problem. This one's in the spindle area of ring three."

  "Damn it! That's the third one this morning."

  "How soon can you get a couple of workers in here?"

  "I'll see who I can round up. Shouldn't be more than ten minutes or so. Hope to hell I don't get too many more calls like this. Next thing you know I'll have to do one myself!"

  Earl laughed. "We sure as hell wouldn't want that to happen now, would we? Earl out."

  "You heard my cousin," Earl said to the guard, "Shouldn't be too long at all."

  "We shall see," said the guard, "I've heard plenty of empty promises from you maintenance people."

  "Hey, I'm not the bad guy here," said Earl, looking as though his ego had been bruised. "I just called the people who can fix it for you, that's about all I can do!"

  "Best you get on with your elevator repairs then," said the guard. "We're not supposed to let locals hang around in this area."

  "We're getting on it now," said Earl.

  He and his four extra "workers" got on board the elevator and made a show of inspecting the doors and workings before jiggling one of the buttons. The doors closed and the elevator headed southward towards the bottom of the spindle where the elevator motors were situated and, just as importantly, where the junction between ring ten and the rest of the station was located. On the way down, the elevator stopped at the hub of each of the ten rings and picked up another one or two workers.

  The elevators that provided north-south transport within the spindle were quite large. One of the innovations that Earl had come up with to gather and transport the crew he needed to perform the separation was a fake panel. As soon as the elevator doors had closed on ring one, the "workers" had set the panel up and stretched it across the elevator cab, keeping the very back portion of the elevator screened from the eyes of the guards at each stop. The screen was well enough designed that it would pass a cursory inspection. The guards at each stop saw an elevator with a single worker who was joined by one or two others. By the time the elevator arrived at the junction between the ninth and the tenth ring, there were somewhere around twenty personnel on board. The last three workers that Earl had picked up were dropped off in the ring ten elevator entrance area. Those workers immediately removed several panels and set about pretending to work on the elevator. The elevator doors scissored closed.

  Earl then used a special key card to open the service doors in the back wall of the elevator. The service doors provided access to areas of the station not available to anyone but maintenance personnel and even they had to have the proper clearance level. These areas included the elevator motor area and, just as importantly, the massive ring coupling mechanisms. There were none of the Sheik's Revolutionary guards anywhere in this area of the spindle, nor were any expected. Once the service door had been opened and the panel had been folded up, Earl and the remaining fifteen Federation operatives dispersed into the inner workings of the tenth ring on the extreme south end of the station.

  It was here that the eight spokes of the tenth ring converged onto an inner ring assembly, called the hub, that slipped around the central cylinder of the spindle. Contrary to popular belief, the spindle itself was not the main central structural member of the ring system. Instead, this function was performed by the stacked inner hubs of the ten rings that made up the station. Each hub was latched securely onto the hubs of its neighbors, or in the case of the first and the tenth ring, to a single neighboring hub.

  These stout central hubs were intentionally designed to further strengthen the huge ring assemblies. The hubs were constructed with a locking disc on one side and a receptacle with a system of latches on the other to firmly attach each of the hubs to its neighbors and facilit
ate the stacking of the rings into a multiple ring space station. When latched together, the stacked hubs became a very substantial central axle. Within this hollow axle was an additional structure, that being the central spindle itself, which housed the station's north-south spindle elevators, the reactors that generated power for the station, the waste management facilities and life support.

  The stout coupling discs were incorporated into the north side of each hub. These discs were firmly clamped onto an equally stout receptacle by a set of latching lugs on the south end of each neighboring hub. Once again, the first and the tenth rings were only attached to a single neighbor while the other eight hubs were latched to inner and outer neighboring hubs.

  To provide a means to inspect the latching system and perform periodic maintenance, a corridor ran around the entire circumference of each latching disc within each of the hubs. The inspection corridors were tall and narrow, just wide enough to allow two people to negotiate them side by side. Because these corridors were so close to the center of rotation for the station, the gravity effect of the station's spin was minimal but working in the corridors without mag boots was possible, if the workers had some experience in low gravity and they were extra careful. The entire area was dimly lit by a series of utility lights that were built into the floor of the structure and spaced about ten meters apart.

  The group, with Earl leading, migrated down the ring ten hub corridor towards a position about midway between the first and second of the eight spokes that connected the hub to the outer portion of the tenth ring. As they headed down the corridor, they could see and touch the massive collar of the latching disc, since it made up the entire north wall of the space.