We followed the ships and observed them repeat this behavior time and time again. It was a disgusting display, but I also knew how effective it had to be. The miners would feel cut off and alone. They couldn't hope to stand against the power being displayed.
"Do you suppose the Lichts, Carrés and your family received a similar visit?" Tabby asked.
"No idea," I said.
The ships had arrived at a new claim and fired up their lights, looking to draw out the claim holders. I had my AI search for the owner's name, not having memorized where people were located. It looked like whoever it was still lived on the ship that brought them to the claim. Finally, my HUD displayed one Dave Muir, an older, single man, in his mid-sixties. We'd met him at the banquet - a crusty old fart. He'd been mining his entire life and wanted nothing more than to be left alone. According to him, he'd figured one couldn't get further away from all of the a-holes than by going to Tipperary. Tabby and I watched as he shouldered a blaster rifle and plinked away at the ships.
"That dumb-ass! He's going to get himself killed," Tabby said.
The Kordun returned fire. Three shots laid down in front of him.
"That's it!" Tabby said.
"No! Hold it," I said.
When the debris cleared we could see that he'd been knocked down, but was still moving. I suspected they were talking to him on the comm. To his credit he lifted himself up to his knee and shouldered his weapon and fired.
"They're going to kill him," Tabby said.
"Wait," I said.
The Kordun's turrets swiveled, locked on the old man's ship and opened fire. After twenty seconds it exploded, sending shrapnel in all directions. Fortunately, old man Muir had dived behind the low hill he had been working on.
"Convinced yet?" Tabby asked.
"Yes. We can't win this fight but we can save that man's life," I said.
We held back and waited for the ships to move on. They sat for a few minutes waiting to see if Muir would get up, which he didn't. A few minutes later, they slowly moved on, not bothering to lend him aid.
"Watch my back," I said.
"What are you doing?" Tabby asked.
"I think he's alive. I'm going to go check," I said.
I ran down to the armory, pulled on my armored vac-suit and loaded up my favorite flechette. Given the circumstances, I wasn't sure why I'd chosen to carry a weapon, but Marny would have chastised me later if I hadn't.
"We clear enough to open the side airlock?" I asked over the comm.
"Roger, that, they've moved out of sensor range," she said.
I fired up the energy barrier, which would allow me to leave the hallway pressurized, and slipped out next to the ship. We were a few hundred meters from Muir's claim and I arc-jetted over to his last known position, keeping low to his asteroid.
Establish line of sight comm channel with David Muir, I instructed the AI.
I popped over the small hill and took a blaster round to my shoulder. I spun away involuntarily as my shoulder erupted in pain.
"Frak, Liam, are you okay?" Tabby broke radio silence, possibly giving away our location.
"Clear the channel, Tabbs. I'm fine," I said. I'd lost the use of my left shoulder, but it was a temporary affliction.
"What do you want?" Muir asked, standing on a hill looking down at me with his blaster rifle squarely aimed at my chest.
I raised my one working hand. "Peace, Mr. Muir. We saw what Oberrhein did to your ship and wanted to offer aid," I said.
"Does it look like I need help?" he asked hotly.
"Yes. Frankly, it does. Unless you have another place to stay," I said.
He remained quiet but didn't lower his weapon.
"If you really want us to, we'll leave, but I think you need some help. Can you lower that weapon?" I asked.
"Shite," he said and lowered the gun.
I popped up and massaged my shoulder. Feeling was starting to be restored.
"I don't know if they're coming back. We should grab whatever we can from your claim and clear the area for now," I said.
I followed him over to the burned out husk of his ship. It was a total loss.
"Frak," he swore softly. "They got it all."
"Not your drill and most of your mining equipment," I said.
"A lot of help that'll be," he said.
"Liam, they're coming back," Tabby said. It was a devil's choice she had to make. Her comm would likely alert them to our presence, but if they were coming back to the claim, we'd be stuck down here.
"Time's up. We have to go now," I said. I recognized the old man's slowness. He was experiencing shock, trying desperately to figure out how to piece his world back together.
I wrapped my arm around his waist and lifted off with my arc-jets. It wasn't impossible to fly while holding another person, but it was awkward. Initially, I overshot the hatch into the ship but quickly adjusted and slid Muir through the energy barrier in front of me. I helped him to his feet and swung the door closed.
"Tabbs, get us out of here," I said.
HUBRIS
"Are you okay, Mr. Muir?" I asked. I hadn't exactly asked his permission to abduct him from his asteroid and throw him into our ship.
He just looked back at me.
Scan Muir for injuries.
"Look, I've got to get back to the bridge. If they've seen us, we could be in for trouble," I said.
I didn't wait for his answer and jumped through the energy barrier between the hallway and the Berth Deck.
"David Muir's blood pressure is elevated and there are no visible injuries," my AI informed me. I'd rather have scanned him with a medical device but there wasn't time.
"Sit-rep," I said, jumping into the chair next to Tabby.
"I think they see us," she said.
"I don't know, they're pretty far off," I said. "Head toward that asteroid twenty degrees off-port and see if they follow."
"Frak, that. Let's see if they want to play with the big boys and girls," Tabby said.
I pulled my combat harness on and hoped that Muir would find a soft spot to hold on to. Tabby was in the chair and it was her call. I pulled the weapons display up on my HUD and instructed the targeting system to acquire a soft missile lock. Their systems wouldn't know I had a lock. I'd have to upgrade before I fired unless we were at point blank range, which with Tabby wasn't out of the question.
The asteroids in this part of Muir's claim were dense enough that the Oberrhein ships were unable to sail three abreast. Tabby was pressing our advantages of both speed and agility. In open space, the three cruisers would tear us apart, but in this part of the field they'd have a difficult time getting a line on us. If they wanted to play a game of dash through the boulders, I'd be up for that.
Tabby hit the combat burn at what felt like a full hundred percent and we accelerated at a mad rate. The strain of acceleration made it difficult to concentrate on their lead ship, Stenka, and I struggled to dial in a firing solution with the turrets.
My HUD displayed three individual blue outlines of firing yokes in front of me. I swept my hand across, combining the yokes into a single firing plan. Unlike Marny, I had no chance at controlling two turrets independently and as it was, at these speeds, I'd be firing in what Marny referred to as the 'spray and pray' pattern.
A warning klaxon sounded moments before the Stenka fired their forward laser blasters. Tabby's response was immediate and jarring as she pushed down hard into the asteroid field. It felt like a blind maneuver and for a moment I was worried that Tabby might not know what was directly beneath us. I quickly pushed the idea out of my mind as I realized she was giving me an opportunity with our two top turrets. I didn't waste it and laid on the trigger. The turrets responded with their muted staccato thwupping.
Don't watch your bolts. Marny had drilled this into me. It was a common mistake for new gunners to watch their rounds streaking towards the enemy and ignore the targeting reticle. I didn't release until the Stenka became obscured by
a passing asteroid.
Engage silent running, Tabby commanded.
My virtual turret controls flashed yellow. I'd have to unlock them to override Tabby's command. It wasn't difficult to do and it would also be the wrong answer. Tabby's aggressive run at the Oberrhein ships had given us enough delta-V in our trajectories that it made their chance at finding us infinitesimal.
"Feel better?" I asked. I was glad that Tabby hadn't decided to fully engage them.
"I'm disappointed you didn't toss a couple of missiles their way," Tabby said.
"I'm not sure if we're that kind of friends yet. I felt like they were holding back and I wasn't looking to escalate," I said.
"They didn't fire more because they didn't have a better firing solution," Tabby said. "These guys aren't any different than the Red Houzi."
Tabby turned her head slightly as we heard the lift operating at the back of the bridge.
"Geez, I hope it isn't that bad," I said. "I hope these guys are better business people than that. Nobody wins if we're shooting at each other."
"Don't be an idiot, kid," Mr. Muir's rough voice caught me off guard. "They'll be by your claim soon enough to shake you down. After your performance here, I'd guess they'll do to you what they did to me - without the benefit of the speech."
"What'd they ask for?" I asked.
"Does it matter?" he responded bitterly.
"Humor me," I said.
"Five thousand meters of premium ore every month," he said.
"In exchange for?" I asked.
"Think before you open your trap, kid. What do you think?"
"I suppose so they'll leave you alone," I said.
"Right. You might as well have left me there. They blew up everything I had and I'm too old to start over," he said.
"You always been a miner, Mr. Muir?" I asked.
"What's it to you?" he asked. He'd taken a seat between our two chairs and was staring at the floor of the bridge.
"Mostly just curious," I said.
"I was a Marine and did a few tours. After that mining sounded nice and quiet," he said.
"Same with my Dad," I said.
"Yeah. We talked."
I couldn't imagine they'd talked for long.
"You want another shot at those dickheads or are you all used up?" Tabby asked.
Muir looked over to her and shook his head. "Too young to be an officer."
"I didn't realize that Marines gave up when they got old," she said.
He looked at her flatly. "You're about to cross a line."
"What? You're not dead yet? Answer the question. You want another shot at em?" she asked.
"You think this little plinker can stand up to three cruisers?" he asked.
"Listen jackass," she said. "This ship just saved your life."
"Hold on you two," I said. "First, we're not headed back to your claim anytime soon. Not, at least, while those cruisers are there. Second, like it or not, we're on the same side out here."
"And?" he asked.
"And, I've got a proposition for you," I said.
"This ought to be good."
"You come work for me on my claim. I'll give you twenty percent of the net on the ore you mine," I said.
"Yeah, that's real generous. I get a hundred percent on my own."
"Hear me out. I'll supply fuel, equipment, food and a habitation dome. Once you're back on your feet, you can do what you want, no strings attached. In return, you'd need to put in some shifts, help out around the warehouse, taking watch, that sort of thing."
"What about Oberrhein?" he asked, staring into the grav-box at Filbert, who was sleeping comfortably.
"We've three General Astral 65mm Long Range Blaster Cannons set up. Defending our home isn't a big problem," I said.
He grunted, which I took as a grudging sign of respect. I reached over my chair, unlatched the grav-box and pulled the sleepy kitty out.
"What'd you bring a damn cat into space for?" he asked.
"We collect strays. What do you say? Any interest?" I asked.
Filbert looked Muir up and down, purring and nudging the man's hand.
"Stupid animal," he said.
I caught Tabby's eye just as she was about to pounce and got her to hold off on what was sure to be a good tongue lashing. Filbert had pushed his way onto Muir's lap and, contrary to his words, he gently scratched the cat's neck.
***
Getting Muir set up wasn't difficult. We had extra habitation domes and mining equipment available. I shared with him the plans for one of the four remaining docking bays and by the next morning he'd started removing material. It was hard for me to watch him work as he moved slowly. That said, he had an efficiency to his movements that showed a long familiarity with the task.
By 1500, forty-five of the ninety-two members of the expedition had shown up for the swap meet. It was a better turnout than I'd expected, given the threatening nature of the Oberrhein ships. On the other hand, swap meets were critical to most colonies, as exactly the wrong type of equipment had a habit of breaking at just the right time.
The warehouse was littered with equipment and crates as people showed off items they'd brought to trade. Overall we were at max capacity for the warehouse, so it was probably good more people hadn't shown up.
"Did you get a visit from Oberrhein?" I asked Dad. We were standing in a small knot of people and it was the first chance I'd had to talk to him.
"We did. They're offering protection for about a quarter of our monthly production," he said.
"What'd you tell 'em?"
"I didn't answer. I figured they'd said what they needed. Frimunt said they got the same visit," he said.
"You hear about Muir?" I asked.
"Marny told me. Old nut shouldn't have fired on them," he said.
"True, hard to blame him though."
Selig and Ada had found each other and were talking. It might be completely innocent, but no doubt much would be made about it after the party.
"You still owe us a visit for tea," Elsene Carré said, as she approached holding a very wiggly Sevene.
"Hello, Sevene," I said and looked up at Elsene. "You're right, we need to do that soon. How are you getting along with the mining?"
"Queletin isn't much with a drill, but he's coming along okay with the grav-sled."
"Equipment holding up?" Dad asked.
"I'm having trouble with my drill. Not all the time, but sometimes," she said.
"What kind of trouble?"
"It's this ridge I've been working. The drill keeps sliding off. I originally thought it was Queletin being a rookie, but I've got the same problem."
Dad scratched his chin and thought about it for a moment. "Frimunt, you have a minute?" He called over the elder patron of the Licht family.
Frimunt picked his way over and nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Pete. Liam," he said and turned to Elsene. "I don't believe we've been introduced."
"Elsene Carré, meet Frimunt Licht," I said.
"Elsene was describing a problem she's been having with her laser and I wanted to hear what you thought," Pete said.
Elsene described her problem again. Dad and Frimunt exchanged a knowing look and Frimunt nodded seriously.
"Annalise, would you bring Wilma over?" Frimunt said. It was noisy enough that his AI would have had to pipe it to her suit.
A moment later, Annalise worked her way through the crowd with Wilma. Frimunt and Annalise exchanged a look and then Frimunt made introductions.
"I was just about to let Wilma have a cupcake. Is that something you'd allow Sevene?" Annalise asked Elsene.
Elsene hadn't missed the nonverbal communication. "Yes, of course."
She set Sevene on the ground.
"We only need a few minutes," Frimunt explained apologetically to his wife.
Annalise smiled and knelt down so she was at the same level with two little girls. "How about it girls? Is it time for cupcakes?"
"What's this all about?
" Elsene asked.
"Not here," Big Pete said.
"Hotspur's just outside," I said. I thumbed my ring and caught Tabby's eye across the room. I preferred that she knew where I was. She smiled and I felt the familiar ping back on my finger.
"Yes," Frimunt agreed.
"So, the big secret?" Elsene asked again once we were all standing in the combined galley/mess on Hotspur.
"Frimunt?" Big Pete asked.
"There is only one thing that will deflect a laser drill like you've described and that's a sizeable gem," he said.
"Gems with a high refractive index," Big Pete said. "Most likely you're onto Hematite, it's common on these iron asteroids. But don't mistake common with not valuable. A kilo of Hematite is worth a hundred Mars Credits, and I've seen formations where there were thousands of kilos. On the other side of the spectrum, you could be on to Diamond. I don't believe I need to spell out what that could mean."
"If you can't drill into it, how do you extract the gems?" Elsene asked.
"Communication request, Dave Muir," my AI informed me through my earwig. I stepped away from the group and lowered my face shield.
Go ahead. "Hello Muir, what's up?"
"Thought you might like to know, there's someone lurking in the corridor that leads back into the asteroid," he said. It had to be the corridor that led to the control room. We hadn't had time to manufacture any monitoring devices, so it was possible.
"Roger that, Muir. Appreciate the heads up. You should join the party, there's beer and cupcakes."
"For frak sake! Nobody drinks beer with cupcakes," he said and closed the comm.
"Marny, who's in the control room?" I asked.
"Nick. What's up Cap?" she asked.
"Muir said he saw someone headed down the tunnel," I said.
"Meet me at the entrance. I'll warn Nick," she said.
"I'll bring a blast rifle for you," I said.
"Aye."
"Tabby, we have something going on in the control room. Can you find a flechette and position yourself by the front door of the warehouse just in case something's going down?"
Buccaneers (Privateer Tales Book 8) Page 16
