"I'd say that's a good point to stop," I said. "You boys are good help."
"Thank you, Mr. Hoffen," Ulran said.
"Let's load up in Hotspur and I'll get you snacks while Tabbs runs us over to your homestead," I said.
"We get to ride in that?" Merley asked, pointing at Hotspur.
"Sure. You can even sit in the pilot's chair if you want," I said.
Suffice it to say it didn't take much to get them moving after that.
A LINE IN THE SAND
By 1200 the next day we'd successfully attached the harness to the asteroid and set the Adela Chen in place. Nick had assured me that the forces on the harness were well within the nano-crystalized steel leg's tolerance, but when Ada fired up the tug's powerful engines and we didn't start moving, it felt like this might be a bad idea.
Fortunately, it was time for us to pick up Ulran and Merley. I had no problem admitting I was happy to leave. I didn't want to watch the epic struggle between the irresistible force of the tug and the immoveable asteroid.
"What are we working on today, Mr. Hoffen?" Merley asked. He and Ulran were squeezed between the pilot's chairs looking out the armored glass of the cockpit.
"We're working on the bottom side. We're going to bore a hundred forty meter corridor over to where we'll locate our security control room," I said.
"A hundred and forty meters? Do you actually have a bore?" Ulran asked.
"No. We'll use drills. It's not that hard, you just have to be accurate and check your depth. It won't go as fast as the hill," I said.
"Why do you need a security control room?" Merley asked.
"We're not just mining this asteroid. We're setting up a co-op and a place where people can stack ore. We may even set up a refinery," I said.
"What's that got to do with a security room?"
I loved how innocently he looked at the universe.
"We need to protect the co-op's equipment," I said.
Apparently, that was an invitation for them to start peppering me with questions about our equipment and other plans. Top on their list was if we had any intention of constructing a pod-ball court. Fortunately, I recognized it for the trap it was. If I suggested it was a possibility, I'd never hear the end of it.
When we returned, I was pleased to see that the Adela Chen hadn't gone spinning off into the asteroid belt. It remained firmly attached to the asteroid. I read a slight delta-v from its original null velocity. It was moving, albeit slowly. If it were anyone but Nick who'd come up with this plan, I might have thought it was ridiculous.
Our goal was to burn around the clock. Much of our engine burn would be dedicated to changing direction as we attempted to weave through the asteroids. Without the AI, it would have been impossible to plan. The asteroid, once moving, would take hours to slow or change directions, even slightly. In the end, it had to arrive at the desired location, be pointed in the correct direction and be at a null velocity. Most people wouldn't come close to accomplishing this without a much larger ship. As it was, we were going to burn forty thousand credits of fuel to get it all done.
On the fifth day, we'd finished the three meter hole which ran from the front side of the 'ankle' of the upside-down boot to within six meters of the 'heel' where we'd locate the control room. It was tedious work and if I never had to bore a hole like that again, it would be too soon.
The control room turned out to be just as annoying. Nick had given us a very precise drawing of what he wanted us to clear. The problem was we'd ended up over clearing the room, but if it bothered Nick, he wasn't dumb enough to say anything.
"Don't you want a view of the outside?" I asked Nick.
"Not until we get our armored glass panels," he said. "I want the security room to be L2 space. We'll need three panels spaced at least two meters apart to accomplish that."
Six meters of separation from the vacuum of space was more than just a little protection. Like most things Nick was involved with, it was substantially over-designed. The material of the asteroid was rich in iron, which would nicely protect future station inhabitants.
"Well, you have your room now," I said. It wasn't news to Nick, as we'd already brought him down to show off the completed work.
"I've got enough panels to put an airlock back here. Are you going to be able to start on the docking bays, now?" he asked. "I thought we'd set up the warehouse in the first bay once you get it clear."
"We'll start tomorrow," I said. We'd stopped working at 1600 but with shifts on the Adela Chen eating into our sleep, I was getting cranky.
We resumed work the next day on the first docking bay beneath the 'arch' of our boot-shaped colony.
On the fourteenth day of our burn, the Adela Chen's engines finally spooled down. The asteroid was in its final resting place. Nick had thoughtfully oriented the co-op so that the star's rays illuminated the control room and habitation area. In the future, when we added armored glass, we'd be able to flood the interior with bright, natural light.
For the last two days we'd slowly been approaching our final destination. Impatience had overruled our initial safety concerns and we'd set the construction bot to the task of assembling the warehouse in the cleared docking bay. We'd started on a second docking bay, even though we knew we'd abandon it in favor of clearing the topside ore storage platform once we were at rest.
"How many meters are you planning to clear up here?" Merley asked. The 'sole' of the asteroid, to which he was referring, was eight hundred meters at its longest point and two hundred meters at its widest.
"Eventually we'll clear the entire thing, but for now we're just looking for forty thousand meters in the middle. See how it's flat through there?" I asked. "We're thinking that's only sixty thousand cubic meters to move."
"Only." Ulran scoffed. He was right. In the last two weeks we'd only moved ten thousand.
"It'll be a lot easier without having to worry about walls and corridors," I said.
"You're still talking about three months of work," Merley said.
"True enough. But we have you, don't we?" I asked.
"Slave labor, if you ask me," Ulran said.
It was a complaint he'd voiced a couple of times. The first time I'd felt bad, wondering about the morality of these kids working off their family's debt.
"Not like you wouldn't be mining at home," I said.
"Yeah, stop complaining, Ulran," Merley said. "At least we get to run the drills here."
"Got me there," he said.
It turned out that Merley's guess of three months wasn't that far off. The saving grace was that Nick, Ada and Marny all joined in. We spent initial time training Ada and Marny on the drills and while Nick had no interest in drilling, he didn't mind being relegated to running a grav-sled. Mostly because of her lighter build, Ada struggled more than Marny to begin with. But, after a couple of days both she and Marny were able to do a lot of the work, as long as I reserved the really difficult cuts for myself and the Licht twins.
When you spread three man-months of work between seven people, it gets done pretty quickly and two weeks later we had a big pile of sifted iron ore and a small pile of tailings. The last two days were spent without Ulran and Merley as they'd finally worked off what their family owed. To say that I was impressed with the rug-rats was an understatement.
I was glad to be done with the initial setup. We had man-years of work left to fully complete the co-op, but we'd accomplished much of our original plan.
"We should have a picnic," Marny announced.
"Where?" I asked.
"The warehouse. We could invite the entire expedition and have a pot luck," Marny said.
"That's a great idea," Nick said. "We could advertise it as a swap meet. We've been getting inquiries about equipment."
The swap meet quickly took on a life of its own once we sent out a comm to the rest of the expedition. Ian and Sylvia Folkson, a couple originally from Earth, volunteered to provide live music. Several other families requested reserved
spots to set up tables where they could show off their wares. We considered charging for spaces, but for now, at least, we figured it made more sense to establish the community rather than try to make a small amount of money. Throughout the next week, requests and offers continued to come in and it was shaping up to be a great event.
One day before people were scheduled to arrive, we'd successfully cleared the warehouse by moving our extra equipment and supplies into the corridor and control center. We decided not to move the missiles, but instead used habitation dome panels to construct a locked room around them. According to Marny, moving them was safe, but not recommended.
"Cap, Nick, we have a situation," Marny said. Her AI had been monitoring a constant feed from the control room.
"On my way," I said.
Tabby and I were in the warehouse, helping arrange the shelves that held the equipment we'd brought from Mars for the purpose of trade.
"Belay that, Cap. Let's get you and Tabby into Hotspur," she said.
My heart raced.
"Tabbs?" I said as I made my way to the warehouse's airlock.
"On your six," she said.
We cycled through the lock, jetted to Hotspur and slid through the energy barrier and into the hallway. I knew Marny would prefer us to be in our armored vac-suits, but we'd lose minutes changing clothes and anything that could punch through the armor of Hotspur wouldn't struggle to crack armored vac-suits. I looked for Filbert and saw that he was asleep in the grav-box.
We jogged through the bridge and spun up the engines as we pulled on our combat harnesses. We worked through the abbreviated checklist we used for emergency situations. Fortunately, we were showing green.
Prepare for departure, I said. The AI would close the airlocks and if there was someone on board that we were unaware of they'd be notified. It would also cause the clamps to release our landing gear.
"Green?" I asked Tabby.
"Green," she agreed.
I pulled back on the stick and gently lifted Hotspur away from the asteroid. We'd taken to mooring it on the station side of the rock. Eventually we'd have our own docking bay cut out, but for now, we had installed temporary clamps to hold the ship in place.
"We're up, Marny. Where are we going?" I asked.
The forward holo jumped to life and I saw three small cruisers lined up on the edge of our security perimeter. In my mind, I might consider taking on one of the cruisers in a pinch. Each ship was thirty percent larger than Hotspur and carried the same weapons compliment. But, that also meant we'd be faster and more maneuverable. What the cruisers gave up in speed, they more than gained in armor. With three ships, they'd easily pin us down if we weren't careful, and you could forget about us lining up for any offensive maneuvers.
Not surprisingly, the ship's registrations showed up as I'd expected – Karelia, Kordun and Stenka.
Show defensive perimeter coverage zones on forward holo, I said.
"Marny, sit-rep," I said.
"Twelve minutes ago, our defensive perimeter sent an automated announcement to the three ships requesting a turret lockdown. When they failed to comply, we informed them that entering our space with weapons hot would be interpreted as a hostile action," she said.
"Have they responded?" I asked.
"No."
"I see. Stay on the comm. I'll attempt to make contact," I said.
Hail Kordun.
"Captain Hoffen. You need to turn off your defensive systems. We're here to fulfill our obligation to the Belirand Corporation," I recognized the voice of the person who'd tried to board the Adela Chen near Léger Nuage.
"Please identify yourself," I said.
"Captain Miles Benesch, Oberrhein."
"Captain Benesch, please state the obligation with Belirand that allows you to invade our territory with turrets hot," I said.
"As you've been informed, Oberrhein has a security contract with Belirand. We provide patrols of their interests in the Descartes asteroid belt."
"Wait one," I said.
Mute comm.
"Nick are you catching this? Are we obligated to allow them to sail through our space, fully armed?"
"There is nothing in the contract. Generally, however, claim holders have the right to defend their territory from all trespassers. Belirand is allowed to manage the claims for the NaGEK consortium, but I'm not able to find anything that supports an extension of Belirand's authority to our claims," he said.
"Got it," I said.
Unmute comm.
"Captain Benesch, your request is denied. We welcome your presence on our claims as long as your weapons are restricted in accordance with an accepted lockdown protocol," I said.
"I'm afraid that isn't your call to make, Hoffen," he said. "We're coming in. If you fire on us, it'll be a fight you can't expect to win."
"We're not bluffing, Captain Benesch. We're taking your threats against my family and company very seriously. If you cross that boundary our cannons will engage you as a hostile entity. I don't know why you insist on escalating, but we will stand firm," I said.
Close comm.
The three ships started to slide forward.
"Cap. What do you want me to do?" Marny asked.
"What would you recommend?" I asked.
"I don't think we can afford to roll over. If we do, they'll own us," she said.
I looked to Tabby.
"You know what I think. Personally, I'd draw them in deep enough to make sure we can take 'em all out," she said.
"Marny, we're going dark. Once all three of the ships are completely inside our perimeter, fire a warning shot and if they engage, you know what to do," I said.
"Aye, Cap. Stay safe," she said.
Engage silent running.
The holo projector popped off at the same time the lights of the bridge extinguished and vid screens blacked out. I also knew that our turrets had been covered by an armored cowl and missile ports were closed. We'd lost our offensive capacity, but with nine turrets lined up on us, we really didn't stand a chance from our current position.
I rolled Hotspur up and to the portside using a minimum amount of thrust, but still headed in their direction. With three ships and a recent, known location, they might be able to track us. It all depended on the fidelity of their sensors.
"You getting any movement on their turrets?" I asked Tabby.
"They had aligned on us, but they're no longer tracking," she said.
I saw friendly cannon fire cross a hundred meters in front of the advancing ships, drawing a line in the sand. I accelerated and sailed in their direction. With a gentle stick, I turned the ship so that we were directly behind the Kordun.
"This could get messy. You ready, Tabbs?" I asked.
"You're one crazy frak, you know that? And heck yah, I'm ready. All I need is two seconds to open the ports on the missile bays," she said.
"Okay, I want you to do that, but don't fire unless they fire on us," I said.
"Oh geez, I hope they fire," she said. That's my warrior-girl.
If they did, it would be a mistake on their part. In our current position, our missiles would shred the small cruiser's engines and likely knock out power to the entire ship.
"They're open," she said.
Their turrets swiveled to orient on Hotspur. Our position was such that without moving their ships they'd have a difficult time getting a good shot.
Hail Kordun.
"Captain Benesch. We've been more than polite. You need to back off, unless you want me to put an end to this right now. You need to stand down your turrets and move out of Loose Nuts controlled space. Do you read me?"
For a tense moment I wondered if he would actually comply. Then the ships finally changed direction enough that they were no longer heading into our space and their turrets returned to a more neutral position. I knew they could easily swivel right back, but for the moment we'd been successful.
"This isn't over, Hoffen," he said.
"It doesn't have to be
this way, Captain Benesch. We're not looking for a fight. We're just here to make an honest living."
"Pretty words, Hoffen. You're in our space now and we'll see how you feel when you're not hiding behind your big guns," he said.
I terminated the comm and sailed back toward the co-op. There would be no value in mixing it up with this guy.
"Nicely done, Marny," I said.
"Thanks, Cap. I think you rattled his cage with that backdoor move. I'm afraid he's right though. This thing isn't over."
"We need to take these jerks out," Tabby said. "We're not getting anywhere being nice and one of these days they're going to catch us in the open.
"It's a fine line, Tabbs. If we attack, unprovoked, we open ourselves up to legal problems. We really need them to flinch first," I said. "Marny, we're going to be out of comm for a couple of hours. I want to see where these guys are headed."
"Aye. Stay frosty," she replied. "Tabby, you might get your wish yet today."
I engaged the ship's silent running mode again and turned back toward the three Oberrhein ships. We followed them as they tracked toward another claim. I pulled up the owner's information on my HUD and discovered it was the Jance family, who we'd only talked to in passing.
As the trio of warships passed over the homestead, they turned on their bright search lights and illuminated the claim, completely washing it in harsh light. We watched in silence as the Jance's put down their equipment and turned around to look up at the three ships.
"I'm gonna frakking kill these sons of –" Tabby said.
"Hold on there. Technically, they're not doing anything illegal," I said.
"Whose laws? We're not under Mars Protectorate or even NaGEK for that matter. This is intimidation, pure and simple and I could stop it with a couple of well-placed missiles," she said.
"Intimidation for what purpose?" I asked.
"Does it matter?"
After a few minutes of the treatment, the Oberrhein fleet moved on. I hung back long enough to watch the Jance couple embrace and walk back to their habitation dome, holding hands, leaving their equipment behind. It was disheartening.
Buccaneers (Privateer Tales Book 8) Page 15
