8
Snow began to fall at around two in the afternoon. The landscape was dusted with snow for an hour or so before the weather cleared again. The party descended a tight valley which opened out into an expansive plain. A wide river snaked its way through the plain and the crew stayed on its north side. The snow was quite thick underfoot, smothering all the wildflowers and tussocks that might’ve grown here. The wind howling across the plain was cold enough to scour the meat on Charley’s bones. Luckily Harry set a cracking pace and her core temperature was nicely elevated. At length a smallish village came into view, nestled in the bend of the river. The settlers informed the pirates that no Imperials had been spotted but they were aware of attacks in other regions. Charley had the villagers group together in the town square where she addressed them.
“My name is Charley Silverton,” she said, standing on top of a land speeder. “You are all at extreme risk if you stay here. I intend to take over the base further to the east. If you join me I can guarantee a fighting chance of survival. I promise.”
The villagers regarded Charley with disbelief.
“How in the hells do you think you can defeat an Imperial invasion force?” one asked with a frown. “The notion is ludicrous.”
“No less ludicrous than staying here, waiting to die,” Charley pointed out.
“The invasion force will be large, but we have a small chance if we band together,” Harry said. “We have the advantage of surprise. The Imperials won’t be expecting any resistance. We can put them on the back foot. Plus, they’re a long way from home. If their supply lines can be cut… ”
Harry let the possibilities hang in the air. The situation was dire, but not impossible. These people really had no choice but to trust the pirates if they wanted to survive. “We’ll come with you,” said a large man with a determined expression. “My name is Durant and I speak for all the villagers.”
Charley climbed off the speeder and took the man’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Durant,” she said. “I plan on validating your trust in me.”
Perhaps Durant saw the fierce intensity in Charley’s eyes, because his eyes flooded with fresh hope. “You have half an hour to collect your things!” he yelled.
Charley used the time to assess the terrain ahead. From the roof of the local water tower she had a good view of the plain to the east. She could see the old Imperial base, called Ghost Fort by the locals, nestled at the base of a rock wall with the wide river providing protection on approach. It was as well defended as the ancient castles Charley used to see on Nex.
“A great position, isn’t it?” Harry asked at Charley’s shoulder.
“If only battles were fought the way they used to be,” Charley lamented.
“I actually think the Imperials will want that base back unscathed,” Harry said. “I’ve heard rumors of a vast missile silo in there.”
A gust of wind sent chills down Charley’s spine.
“I’d like to be in before nightfall,” she said nervously. “Let’s leave Molly to shepherd the villagers to the base.”
Charley left with Harry, Vanessa and Gronko. The way to the east was relatively easy but darkness was gathering all around. It was almost pitch black by the time they stood at the base of the forbidding outer wall of Ghost Fort. The battlements were empty but conveyed a sense of dread all the same. Using light beams generated by their wrist pads, the crew approached the front gate and found it was wide open. Scavengers had obviously gotten into the outer courtyard in the past. Harry led the others through the decrepit courtyard and up several flights of steps to the main keep entrance. The building was oval-shaped and very wide. Charley suspected there were landing pads up on the roof.
Harry surprised everyone by ignoring the DNA lock and simply rapping on the door with his fist.
“Are you serious?” Charley asked.
“Desperate times,” Harry shrugged. “Whoever’s in there may not be completely insane.”
Sure enough someone answered over a general com channel.
“No fuckin’ way,” came Harry’s spirited reply.
Charley’s next surprise came when the doors swung open to admit them. How could these people be so trusting?
But then she saw the assortment of gun nozzles directed at them as they walked in. The interior of the keep felt immense. A staircase spiraled down from the doors to an expansive lower level. Here, a ring partition had been erected with defensive gun emplacements at regular intervals. Some forty people stood inside the defensive partition, waiting to see if Charley and her crew represented any kind of threat.
“Why did they let us in so easily?” Charley whispered to Harry as they made their way slowly down the steps.
“Because they outnumber us eight to one,” Harry said. “Even so, they don’t have enough people to man the entire base. It makes more sense for them to let us in and make their own mind up whether to slaughter us or not.”
Charley blinked, hoping against hope that she was allowed to reach the bottom of the stairs. The keep was truly a relic from another age. It was more like a throne room than a military base. Its treasures had probably been looted long ago, leaving a massive, empty shell that the Imperials happily moved into. Now that they had left too, the whole place had a rich, heavy sense of history. Charley was certain there had been plenty of blood spilled in this place. What interested her the most was the ledge along the south wall that suggested access to a wide external rampart.
Before she could go check it out, she would need to speak to the leader of Ghost Fort.
“You can stop right there,” said a commanding voice as Charley stepped off the stairs. The guns behind the partition hadn’t been lowered despite Charley’s non-threatening body language.
At length a man emerged from a panel in the partition and introduced himself.
“My name is Jack Kovacs,” said the grizzled, ripped young man. “I’ve been running a salvage operation out of Ghost Fort for six years. As such I claim ownership of the facility as is my right under old Imperial Law. Which makes you my guests. I hope you don’t overstay your welcome.”
Charley grimaced. This was the tricky part.
“You seem to be vigilant here,” Charley began. She’d seen the bank of long range scanners behind the partition. “I’m glad I’ve found like-minded people. My name is Charley Silverton and I represent the Pirate Guild.”
Kovacs looked a little confused. On some vague level Charley noted that he was an extremely good-looking man. Dark, saturnine, brooding. Short, unkempt black hair and wide chocolate-colored eyes. There was hardness in those eyes but also limitless scope for passion and unwavering dedication to the right cause.
“The pirates are long dead,” Kovcas said with disdain. “But their memory is respected in these parts. You’re gonna have to prove it.”
Charley’s mind raced. She thought about doing something crass like showing Kovacs her stuffed bank account, but in the end Harry saved her.
“Pirates don’t need to prove shit,” the old man snapped. “You’ll know soon enough by our actions.”
Kovacs looked more relaxed after Harry’s answer. “Spoken like a true pirate at least,” he admitted. “What brings you here? What do you want from us?”
“Nothing,” Charley said quickly. “We just wanna help you defend this place.”
Kovacs looked them all up and down. “I’m not sure if we need extra mouths to feed.”
“We can feed ourselves, Kovacs,” Harry said. “We just thought we could kick some Imperial ass. Together.”
“I have no love for the Imperials,” Kovacs admitted. “But like I said, I run a salvage operation. I don’t think the Imperials will bother with the likes of me.”
“You wanna bet?” Harry said with a hard grin. “They’re on their way right now.”
Doubt flickered across Kovacs’s face. “Then we’ll disappear into the shadows like we always do. The Scrappers always fin
d a way.”
“The Scrappers, eh?” Harry repeated. “You look like good people to have on our side. I’m afraid it’s defend or die, Kovacs. This base is actually in a prime defensive position.”
Kovacs considered Harry’s words for what seemed an eternity. He took another long look at Charley, but on some level she didn’t mind in the slightest.
“Sir, I’m picking up some very large orbital entries,” said a voice from inside the partition.
“How big?” Kovacs asked.
“At least one warship, sir,” came the reply.
“You’d better come in,” Kovacs said to Charley, frown lines building around his eyes.
Charley’s crew was permitted behind the partition but there was still at least one gun trained on them at all times. She understood the precaution - it was folly to trust strangers in this galaxy. Kovacs allowed her and Harry access to their long range scanners - there were indeed many shapes appearing off-planet. The biggest had the elongated shape of an Imperial warship.
“It will be hours before that force is in any position to launch a ground invasion,” Harry reassured Kovacs. It also had the subtle effect of reinforcing the fact that an invasion was inevitable.
“What would you have us do?” Kovacs asked. “There’s only forty of us and we aren’t trained to operate any of the old equipment in this fort.”
“Have you managed to jack any of it?” Harry asked.
Kovacs’s eyes narrowed. “As it happens, I’ve jacked pretty much every bit of tech in this place.”
Charley looked at Kovacs with delight.
“It’s a hobby,” he said, shrugging. “I grew up on the Core World. A child of the streets.”
Charley beamed at Harry. Her dwindling hope had just been coaxed back to life.
“We might be able to man the weapons in here,” Harry said. “But we need to get them fired up immediately. We don’t know how many things will work.”
Kovacs remained silent for a moment, clearly assessing his guests one last time. Charley made a point of not looking away. She met his lovely brown eyes with a penetrating gaze, feeling a certain frisson between them. If Harry noticed he chose not to show it.
“I’m gonna trust you,” Kovacs said. “And if we get out of this alive, I might even mean it.”
“Good to hear, Kovacs,” Harry said. “And now, time is of the essence. Can you please give me a quick tour of the base?”
“Of course,” Kovacs said. “Follow me.”
9
Charley and Harry followed Kovacs into a dark passageway in the rear of the keep. The scrapper talked as he walked.
“If you think this place looks suited to some kind of king, you’re right,” Kovacs said. “This place was once the lair of Krovon IV, a fearsome warlord in this sector. He sent attack barges to nearby systems for over a hundred years.”
“Krovon had some great engineers,” Harry said. “They knew how to protect their warlord.”
Kovacs led them into a high chamber underneath the base. It contained two silo-shaped generators that nearly reached the ceiling.
“These were actually difficult to jack,” Kovacs said. “But once I had them, my Scrappers had energy and warmth against the cold. This is basically our life support.”
A drop shaft took the three of them to the passageway above the generators. A long, dark passageway led north. A hydrostatic track ran down the middle of the passageway.
“Must be under the mountain at the back of the base,” Harry commented.
“We are,” Kovacs confirmed. “The effort to excavate back here is astounding.”
Kovacs pressed his finger into a DNA activation panel and a door slid open. Charley held her breath as she walked in - it was one huge missile bay.
Long range weapons of all sizes and shapes had been stored here. There were orbital nukes, anti-armor missiles, cluster missiles. A missile for every occasion.
Harry looked like a child in a candy shop. His eyes glittered with possibilities.
“That hydrostatic track out there in the corridor,” he said. “It transfers these missiles to the guns?”
Kovacs nodded, almost proudly. “Pretty cool isn’t it? Hasn’t been used for over a century, but because the materials are high grade, degeneration is not an issue. We just don’t know how to operate the guns.”
Her mind ticking over, Charley followed the men back down the passageway and into the main keep again. They took a little drop shaft to the mezzanine level that admitted to the external rampart. Long, sloping arms of concrete protected the rampart from air attack. The rampart itself was wide and uncluttered. There were three main guns along the rampart. Each was essentially a towering concrete slab with a huge turret at the top. The turrets were the largest Charley had ever seen. They looked like they could handle the missiles they’d seen back in the missile bay along with other ordinance too.
Missile tracks ran into the base of each tower. The entrances to each of the three gun towers were sealed over.
“Problem is,” Kovacs said, “we can activate the missile system, but we can’t open those doors or access the tower systems.”
“That could indeed be a problem,” Harry said with furrowed concern.
“FIGJAM?” Charley said to her PalBot. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re fucking screwed,” the PalBot concluded. “But I’ll take a look anyway.”
Charley let FIGJAM roll over to the access node on one of the towers. He used his traction setting to climb the wall to the panel. He was plugged in for a half minute before he spoke.
“Like I said, you’re all fucked,” he announced, rolling back to Charley. She popped him back in her utility belt with an embarrassed shrug.
“Any advice, FIGJAM?” she asked.
“Get someone with the right DNA,” he said belligerently. “These towers will only work if they recognize one of the local bloodlines. Crude, I know.”
Charley wanted to ask more questions but the annoying PalBot had gone offline.
“I’ll get each of my people to try logging in,” Kovacs said. “I’m not hopeful - most of my guys are off-world.”
“Then one of the villagers might have the right DNA,” Harry suggested. “We’re not done yet.”
“Molly, let me know when the villagers arrive,” Charley said into her wrist com.
“I’ve got one more thing to show you,” Kovacs said. At both ends of the long rampart there were two identical chambers. The one that Kovacs showed them was an armory. The wall racks were lined with over a hundred pulse rifles.
Harry cocked one and primed it. “Old tech, but well made,” he said. “These will pack a punch.”
“They don’t make them like that anymore, eh?” Kovacs said in agreement. “The second armory has rifles and cryo-grenades. Boxes and boxes of them. The more settlers you bring, the better chance we have of surviving the next twenty four hours.”
Harry slapped Kovacs on the back. “This has made my day,” he said warmly. “I’m going to supervise the activation of those turrets.”
Harry gave Charley a peck on the cheek and walked out with a bounce in his step. The old pirate had energy to burn. Charley adored his passion.
“It’s good to see that pirates aren’t just a modern myth,” Kovacs said, leaning back against a weapons rack. The effect was casually sexy. The man looked like a bit like a scoundrel in his black leathers. Leaning back had exposed a section of his lower abs when his vest lifted up. Charley fought the urge to stare. Jack Kovacs had a stomach like galvanized steel! Jack caught Charley’s roving eye and grinned cheekily.
“I’m sorry if I was rude when we first met,” he said conversationally. “In this day and age you can’t be too careful.”
“Oh, I couldn’t agree more,” Charley said, enjoying her view of the well put-together scrapper. “Survival is the game.”
“You said it,” Kovacs said. “Say, Charley, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Do you have a special relationship with the old man?”
Charley blushed. “He’s my mentor,” Charley said. “I love him, but I’m bound to no man.”
Kovacs visibly brightened, buoyed by the news.
“I have to admit,” Kovacs said, “when I was checking you out when you first arrived, it wasn’t all about security.”
Charley grinned and grimaced at the same time. It was a cheesy observation but it somehow worked. Maybe it worked because he was nervy and anxious, looking for anything to raise her spirits or distract her from their desperate situation. Whatever the case, Kovacs had risked a lot to open his doors to Charley, and that meant a lot to her. She figured she had a spare half hour while she waited for the villagers to arrive. Why not spend it with someone who knew how to make her smile?
Kovacs was looking at Charley with eyes that had lost their bright, casual warmth. They were now clouded with lust.
“What would you say if I asked you to unzip that suit, Charley?”
Charley looked Kovacs in the eye. The truth was that she’d expected the question. Paved the way for it, even.
“I’d say fuck off,” Charley said evenly. “At least, I would if I wasn’t feeling so nervous.”
Kovacs’s face visibly relaxed. “Is there any way I can relieve your nerves, Charley?”
“All I know is it’s a little hot in here,” Charley said, playing with her zip. “I really don’t need these weapons at the moment.” She unhooked her weapons belt, including a sighing FIGJAM, and stretched her back theatrically. Her ripe breasts sat seductively, the nipples erect through the material. Charley never bothered with underwear these days. She preferred the primal feel of her expensive utility suit. Kovacs struggled to keep his eyes off Charley’s boobs.
“Maybe I can massage your back?” Kovacs suggested.
“That sounds nice,” Charley said. “I don’t need to unzip for that.”
Kovacs frowned. He was almost bursting out of his leather trousers.
The Pirate Commander (The Space Pirate Chronicles Book 3) Page 5
