Voyage of the Valkyrie

by Robert Horseman

  She spun around, looking for Cale, her heart pounding. He was nowhere to be seen.

  She keyed her lip mic. “Rae, did you see what happened to Ensign Davis?”

  “Yes. He made contact but found no handholds. He drifted off and out of sight around the platform.”

  “Was he moving?”

  “I saw no movement after contact.”

  Mac felt sick. She was just starting to like the guy, and she needed him now more than ever. If he had bounced off the platform he’d be out of air before the next orbit, a sure death sentence. She punched her com and yelled into the tiny mic, “Cale, can you hear me? Please respond.”

  She waited several heartbeats and tried again with twenty percent transmission energy. “Cale, where are you? Cale, answer me goddamn it, that’s an order.” Dead silence. She didn’t dare try higher transmission energy, as that would definitely announce them to any crew aboard the platform. She swore, reduced her transmission energy, and climbed down to where Rae stood near the base of the antenna tower.

  “Rae, we need to get inside. Do you have any ideas?”

  “I am sorry, Ensign Pickett, but I have no schematics for this type of platform loaded, and the local processing power of this drone severely limits creative reasoning.”

  “Terrific.” Mac checked her suit’s reserves. Twenty percent air and a bit more power. They had to get inside fast. She frowned and looked at the drone. “Rae, can you reprogram an external maintenance drone?”

  “Affirmative.”

  Many space vessels and most stationary platforms had external maintenance drones. They were usually positioned in recessed niches to keep them out of the way when not in use, but ready on a moment’s notice to fix a wide variety of problems. Staying on the underside of the platform away from sensor equipment, they found an eight-legged drone folded into a small recess. Rae extended one of her small tool arms, and fitted an adapter into the drone’s data port.

  After a brief pause Rae said, “The drone is primitive, but I have full access to its operational program.”

  “Can you disconnect it from platform control?”

  “Yes, however that would trigger alarms.”

  “How about we give it a maintenance mission?”

  “Certainly, but it has to be in the form of a problem description.”

  “All right. Tell it there is a problem with the main access hatch door seal, which is leaking atmosphere. Won’t it need to cycle the door open to inspect?”

  “That seems logical.”

  “Do it.”

  “ Acknowledged.”

  The little drone shuddered as it powered up, then extended its eight legs and scurried away from them. They followed at a safe distance, Rae walking and Mac pulling herself from handhold to handhold. It took less than a minute to get to the hatch, and they watched as the maintenance drone plugged one leg into a port next to the hatch. The hatch irised open, revealing a brightly lit interior airlock. Mac slipped inside, with Rae following close behind.

  They stayed in the airlock for an agonizing thirty minutes as the drone inspected the hatch seals. Cale might already be out of air, and Mac could not stop fearing for him. Finally, the maintenance drone resealed the hatch and departed. Mac floated to the inside end of the airlock tube, and looked through a small window into the space beyond as air was automatically pumped back in. It appeared to be a cargo bay, with crates and boxes scattered about with little apparent organization. A loader frame sat hulking along the inner wall, ready to move cargo wherever it was needed.

  Mac said, “Rae, if we are discovered, I want you to find a hiding spot and go into low-power sleep mode. Even if you are spotted, drones are so commonplace that they may just ignore you. Make contact with your computer core on the Valkyrie if the situation permits.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  It was a weak solution, she knew, because with little creative reasoning power, Rae’s drone would be worthless if she needed rescue.

  A light on the inner hatch’s control panel turned from red to green, and it slid aside. That was odd. While it was normal for airlocks to repressurize, they didn’t automatically cycle the inner hatch open. She unsealed her balaclava, sniffed at the musty air, and peeked around the hatch frame. The muzzle of a plasma gun hovered a centimeter from her nose.

  ***

  “Manning this god-forsaken platform is the most boring job I’ve ever had,” said the man behind the weapon. “So when even the smallest thing happens here, like say a maintenance drone activation, I take an interest. And now looky what I’ve found. A pretty girly to keep me company.”

  The guy was tall and lean, with black hair slicked back from a receding hairline. A scraggly reddish beard adorned a pinched face that reminded Mac of a rodent, complete with splayed front teeth that were a bit too long. His left ear seemed to be missing its upper half. He wore a set of overalls that may once have been white, but were now various shades of dirt and grease. He must have been downwind in the ventilation air flow, because she hadn’t smelled anything before, and up close he stank like the back alley of a bar.

  “Hands over your head and come on outta there.” The muzzle of the weapon retreated a step with the man, and Mac took two steps into the bay without raising her arms. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest as she looked around, then settled her gaze on him and scowled.

  “Put that damn thing away, you idiot. They sent me over here in a suit to back you up in case anything goes wrong. Apparently there’s been some unexpected resistance on the UDA corvette.”

  The muzzle waivered a moment, then steadied on her again. “Yeah, well they didn’t tell me nothin’ about no girly coming to help.”

  “So they tell you everything they’re gonna do, huh?” she sneered. “You must be the commander’s favorite. I’m in awe.”

  “Yeah, but the maintenance drone…”

  “What about it? I saw it inspecting the hatch seal on my way in. And why the hell are you yacking at me? You didn’t leave the console unattended, did you?” Mac’s bluff seemed to be working, and she needed to know if there was anyone else on the platform.

  He swore, holstered his weapon, and pushed past her. Mac stood for a moment to steady her suddenly shaking hands, and followed a dozen paces behind. Apparently the guy was alone.

  The bay appeared to circumnavigate the platform’s entire central core, and she followed him to a zero-gravity access tube. He entered with his back to her, and she saw her chance. Zero-gee robbed you of leverage, which made him a sitting duck. As he extended his legs to launch himself up to the next level, she rushed him, grabbed the doorframe with both hands, and lashed out with both feet. The impact threw him face-first into the tube wall with a sickening wet thud, and his body whipsawed as he rebounded. He made a gurgling noise and blinked blood out of his eyes as he floated upward. Mac tumbled backwards out onto the full gravity plating, landing hard on her back.

  She pushed herself up onto her elbows, and watched him grope for the handhold at the next level about three meters above her. She had hoped to knock him out, but he just seemed dazed. He looked down at her and dragged his plasma gun from its holster.

  “You bitch. I’m gonna fry you.”

  Mac thrust herself backwards on her elbows, hoping to get out of his line-of-sight.

  He screamed, “Bitch, here I come.”

  A crack like thunder and a sizzling sound echoed through the platform, and the man drifted down the tube, his body stiff and his hair and coveralls smoking. A smell like frying bacon made Mac dry heave. She gazed in horror at the thing that had been a man just moments before, then up to the top of the access tube.

  Cale peered down at her, and her heart skipped a beat. “Hey Mac, welcome to the party.”

  Chapter 12, Contact

  After a quick tour of the platform to make sure there was no one else aboard, Mac reactivated Rae’s drone. It had folded itself into a tight bundle, and was attached to an overhead handhold in the airlock. Then she he
lped Cale flush the blackened body out into space. The air would clear faster without the stinking body, and she couldn’t stand looking at it. She gagged twice before the job was done.

  Mac stopped Cale with a hand on his shoulder as they walked back toward the access tube. “Cale, tell me what happened to you. Rae’s drone said you missed a handhold and rebounded into space, apparently unconscious. I thought you were dead.”

  “So you missed me?”

  Mac rolled her eyes. “This isn’t the time or place, Cale. Just tell me what happened.”

  He grinned. “Only if you tell me you missed me.”

  She glared daggers at him. “Cale, don’t make me pull rank.”

  He looked at the floor and sighed. “I hit hard and bounced, blacked out for a few minutes, and when I finally came around the platform was at least ten klicks away. I used all the suit’s maneuvering power to get back here. I was down to three percent oxygen before I made it inside.”

  “So how did you get in?”

  “When they decommission these old platforms, they remove more than the computer core. They take all the weapons and the power core too. The original military power core ran through the central trunk all the way to the lower skin, but the available commercial cores are much smaller. Unless they patch it, which they hardly ever do, it leaves a deep recess in the skin. There’s an old maintenance airlock there which used to lead to the military power core, but now leads to space. It probably has no alarm, or at least that’s my guess. Either that, or he was already waiting for you down here and never heard it go off.”

  Mac nodded. “Well done. Where’d you get the pulse rifle?”

  “The guy was a slob. You’ll see for yourself up top. There’s stuff scattered everywhere. I found the rifle in his quarters with the safety off. It should have been locked up. Then I heard him talking to you down here. Nice bluff by the way, and that kick was something else. I’m glad you paid attention in Rodriguez’s class.”

  Mac chuckled at the thought of Rodriguez. The academy’s hand-to-hand combat instructor was ancient, and could kick the ass of every student there. She looked up into Cale’s eyes and smiled. “Yeah.”

  “He was a hard ass, but I’m sure he’d be proud of that move.”

  She grinned, “That’s not what I meant. I meant, yeah, I missed you.”

  ***

  The upper level was a narrow circumferential area wrapping around interior machinery spaces and the crew quarters. Mac poked her head into the quarters area and nearly gagged on the smell. It seemed obvious that the room was originally intended as a storage locker, and it looked like the guy had been camping in it. Originally an automated platform, there were none of the usual facilities associated with manned stations, such as bathrooms and showers. Her bladder flared and she forced the thought away. She’d cross that bridge when it became necessary. The suit could handle a little urine if necessary, but she’d rather not test that out if she could avoid it.

  “What’s next, boss?” shouted Cale from the consoles.

  Mac came back out and sneezed. “Let’s see what we have to play with. What have we got?”

  “It looks like a basic manual fire control setup. No automation left at all. Basic life support. They installed some pretty decent communications equipment though. “

  The U-shaped metal command console looked like it had been ripped out of a freighter, and reequipped with other salvaged electronics. It was battered looking, and there were many empty sockets and screw holes where old equipment had been ripped out. Cale was right though, the communications panel was of recent vintage. Two worn command seats of different manufacture sat before the console, and she guessed one was for fire control and the other for maneuvering.

  “Rae, come here. I see an access port, and I want you to try to access whatever computer core is here,” said Mac.

  “Acknowledged.”

  The drone walked up to the console, and plugged the tip of one of its secondary arms into a port. Its head twitched as though considering something interesting. “Basic generation three computer core. I have control.”

  “Can you establish a long-range tight-beam link with the Valkyrie, using the communications system?”

  The drone twitched again. “Yes, for twenty minutes out of every ninety when it passes our orbit, assuming power has been restored on the ship. The next window begins in eight minutes.”

  “What will you do?” asked Cale.

  “I’m not sure yet. We need to know what’s going on over there first. I doubt if Rae’s main system has been compromised. If she’s been rebooted, she won’t give access to anyone she doesn’t recognize, even if they have somehow acquired the proper access codes.”

  “Wait, you said Rae’s main system. What are you talking about? Rae’s right here.”

  Mac sighed and shook her head. He would realize the truth soon anyway, once the link was established and the drone resumed its more human-like aspects. “All that crap about an AI converted drone was just so much camouflage. The real AI is the Valkyrie’s computer core, and it is based on a real person’s neural patterns. This drone was run by it, at least until the Valkyrie’s power went down. All we have here is a slightly smarter drone. It will do what we tell it, but not much more. This is all secret, of course, but you now have a need to know. I could be court-marshaled for telling you, assuming we get out of this mess alive, so I’m counting on your discretion.”

  “Damn, I should have guessed that. Rae, I mean the drone, doesn’t look or act like it did on the Valkyrie. Of course I’ll keep the secret.”

  Mac pursed her lips. “Are you any good with manual fire control?”

  Cale rubbed his hands together, and a wide grin spread across his face. “That was my specialty before I got assigned to navigation. Do you intend to fight with this platform?”

  “Maybe. These platforms are equipped for orbital maneuvering, otherwise they’d be sitting ducks even with shielding. I can handle navigation, but we may need everything we have. I suggest you set yourself down and figure out fire control.”

  Cale looked like a six year old at Christmas as he sat down at the console. Mac stepped up to the large dura-glass window and peered at the dark horizon. Cale muttered to himself as he experimented with the fire control system. He said, “My god, whoever set up these controls was a moron. Only one weapon can be selected, aimed, and fired at a time. We’d be outclassed by a damn shuttle.”

  Minutes ticked by as the Valkyrie approached below them.

  “Tight-beam link established,” said Rae.

  Mac turned to the drone and watched as it reinitialized its human-like appearance. Rae smiled and looked about. “Hello Mac, hello Cale. It is nice to see you are still with us. I see you are on a defense platform in geostationary orbit above me. My drone recorded the events.”

  “We jumped while the Valkyrie’s power core was down. Listen, we don’t have much time. What is the status of your system and the crew?”

  “I am operational, and full power has been restored. A contingent of Redshift technicians is aboard trying to gain access to my system. They are running an access knife, but it’s hitting a false gateway. Every time they cut through it, I put up another just to keep them busy. Our crew was removed to the Redshift vessel, and I have been monitoring communications. They appear to have a vessel chop-shop and possibly an underground slave-labor facility of some sort, if I am interpreting everything right.”

  Mac slumped into the navigation seat. “Damn, that complicates matters. It’s not just a ship rescue now. Somehow we have to get the entire goddamn crew back.” She sighed, “Where is the Redshift vessel now?”

  “The Redshift vessel is still attached to our docking port.”

  “Okay, do not take any action that would reveal your existence. Is the ship okay?”

  “Yes, the ship is in excellent condition.”

  “How many other platforms are in orbit?”

  “Just one other stationed 180 degrees orbital from y
ou, similar configuration. “

  “That’s something, at least.” She looked over at Cale, who was banging his fists on the console in apparent frustration. She said, “Rae, we may need to fight this platform. It was apparently gutted and sold for scrap before ending up here. Everything is jury rigged. Cale says the fire control system is worthless, and I have little hope that defenses and navigation are any better. Is there anything you can do?”

  “Please give me a moment to inspect the systems.” Ten seconds passed, then Rae continued, “The systems present aboard appear to have been cobbled together from a wide variety of vessel types. I can download the standard military control systems to your console, but I would have to generate interfaces to the rather unique hardware suite you have aboard.”

  “Please do so.”

  “Acknowledged.” Several seconds passed, then Rae said, “Interface generation complete, uploading now.”

  Cale looked up from his console. “Whoa, it would take a programmer months to straighten out this mess.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” said Rae’s drone.

  Cale grinned. “As was intended.”

  All of the consoles’ displays went dark, then came back up a moment later. Cale experimented for a few moments, then grinned. “You wouldn’t believe the firepower. We have a huge assortment of weapon types mounted. They must have acquired them from the ship’s they captured.”

  Rae said, “The commercial power core installed will limit your capabilities. Make sure you do not overload it.”