Deep Space Intelligence : Complete Series

by Gary Weston

  Chapter 397

  Joy, Karma, Tagg and Sam, all knew Shannon to be a bright and capable little girl. They also knew they were expecting a lot from her. Taking care of a baby would be far more than most seven-year-old girls could attempt, but to do it whilst on a freighter with a killer, was much too much. Raven and Thorne were constantly on edge, waiting for the call which would surely come soon, threatening to hurt the kids if they didn’t give up the chase. And then what? A desperate man on the run would not encumber himself with them. He would probably dispose of them.

  Raven and Thorne didn’t express those thoughts. The two ships raced through deep space, Thorne and Raven gaining slowly on the other ship. They bounced ideas off each other, dismissing all of them. They couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t put their children at risk.

  They were entering unknown areas of sector six. The nearest anyone had come to exploring the planets here was with the occasional radio telescope on Home. Indeed, there were promising planets to visit one day, but it wasn’t high on the list of priorities to explore them. None, for all anyone could tell, had intelligent life on them. That man had to be stopped before he found a suitable planet and landed on one.

  * * *

  Shannon knew her limitations. She was proud of herself for what she’d achieved so far, but they couldn’t continue like this. The food had run out and Dixon also had a rash on his bottom. Shannon knew even with her best efforts, the baby needed to be cleaned off a lot better than she’d been doing it in the confines of a cupboard with almost no light and not much to work with. There was only one thing to do and it would be the biggest thing she had ever done in her entire life. After waiting in the dark for hours, it was time to make her move. If the bad man caught her, she had tried her very best. She opened the cupboard door and closed it behind her. She checked the passage. Clear. She needed to see if the bad man was on the bed.

  On tiptoe, she went to his door and listened for noise. There was the loudest snoring she had ever heard. She wasn’t to know, but Martin had once again taken double the recommended dose of painkillers, and that those had knocked him out. Shannon knew what she had to do and went quickly to the flight-deck.

  * * *

  Sam Thorne had to rub his tired eyes and double check what he was watching. ‘Tagg. Tagg. Wake up.’

  ‘Hmmm? What?’ Raven stretched his aching back. ”Something happening?’

  Thorne pointed at the screen. ‘Look.’

  ‘Damn. He’s coming straight towards us. What’s he playing at?’

  ‘I have no idea. I couldn’t believe it. At first I thought he was aiming for a particular planet, but the ship was brought right around and it is heading straight for us.’

  Raven said, ‘This isn’t adding up. Maybe he’s gone completely insane, or he has a plan of some sort.’

  ‘To shoot us down knowing we can’t shoot back, maybe?’

  ‘That crossed my mind. Which means he has found the kids. That’s the part I can’t figure out. If he’s found them, he would know we’re powerless to stop him. There’d be no reason for him not to call us.’

  Thornes said, ‘And what about us? We keep heading towards each other, we’ll be in firing range of his cannon in less than three hours. We’ll be sitting ducks, Tagg.’ Which was when the radio hissed into life.

  ‘Daddy,’ whispered Shannon. ‘That man is asleep. I turned the ship around..’

  ‘You turned the ship around?’

  ‘Easy. I watched you and Karma do it all the time.’

  Raven and Thorne looked incredulously at each other.

  ‘Ok, Shannon. Have you set the ship on auto?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then leave it. Go hide again. Uncle Tagg and I will think what to do?’

  Raven asked, ‘Shannon. You’re doing brilliantly. How is Dixon?

  ‘He’s got a rash on his bottom. I can’t clean him properly. And we are nearly out of food.’

  Thorne said, ‘Ok. It won’t be long now, sweetie. Go back and hide and leave it up to us.’

  ‘Ok, Daddy.’

  The radio went dead.

  ‘I tell you something, Sam. That kid of yours is amazing.’

  ‘She sure is,’ said Thorne, his heart bursting with pride. ‘We have to stop that ship and get them off it. Tagg. I know I was against it, but when we get in range, I’ll try to shoot out the thrusters.’

  They knew the risk would be great. Hit the right spot the engines would just die. A little either way off the mark…!

  Chapter 398

  Two hours later, the ships getting closer to each other and the time for the drastic, desperate act to stop the ship becoming imminent, was the time that the groggy Martin staggered to the flight-deck. His head was swimming, and he almost passed out in the pilot’s seat. It took a moment to realise what had happened, but it hit him. He thought he’d imagined things disappearing and being moved around in the kitchen, but it had actually happened. He wasn’t alone on the ship.

  Taking the hand laser from his belt holster, he went off to find his passenger. Each room he tried he had the weapon ready to shoot to kill. As he went down the passage, he heard a strange sound. It was a dog. The yapping of a small dog. Following the noise, he went to the door of the room. It was awkward opening the door and holding the gun in his one good hand, but he did it. Ducking down low, he entered, expecting to find the owner of the dog. The room seemed to be empty.

  Then, from the cupboard he heard the puppy, and the sound of a child trying to silence it. He was tempted to blast holes in the cupboard door and kill anybody in there. Instead, convinced it was just a child, he opened the door.

  Shannon had been taught well by Karma. A man attacks you, there’s one sure part of his anatomy to hit hard and bring him down. It was a good solid kick and perfectly aimed. Martin didn’t drop to the floor, but did double up in pain. Shannon had the knife in her hand ready. She had doubted she would use it given the chance. When Martin swung a fist at the girl, Shannon simply reacted and rammed the knife deep into Martin’s right thigh. Then she pulled the knife out and with a piercing scream, stabbed Martin’s left leg. This time the bad man did drop, blood pooling all around him.

  Martin screamed, ‘I’ll kill you, you little bitch.’

  Not to be left out of the “game” Pinky grabbed Martin’s ear and bit hard. Her teeth weren’t big yet, but they were as sharp as a row of needles. Martin’s lashed out and caught Pinky a glancing blow. Not enough to hurt her, but it was enough to have her hiding behind Shannon’s legs. Shannon saw the bad man reach out for the gun he’d dropped and kicked it away from him. He grabbed her leg and she fell hard onto the floor. Martin had blood running freely down both legs and he only had one good arm. Shannon wriggled free of him, then kicked out at the wound in his right leg. He let her go, writhing in agony close to passing out.

  Not thinking, merely reacting, Shannon bundled Dixon up in her arms and ran out of the room, Pinky running ungainly after her. Behind her she could hear the bad man trying to get to his feet.

  Chapter 399

  Shannon ran into the engine room. This was a place she knew very well, and was one of her favourite places. Whenever Karma or her father needed to do adjustments or just check on them, she would follow them. She would ask what they were doing and why. Her father loved to explain how the engines worked and which part did what. She had learned a lot over the years. She had an idea and intended to try it. Once inside the engine room, she slammed the heavy steel door behind her. She had to act fast.

  ‘I gotta put you down, Dixon. You just stay put and let me do stuff.’

  With Dixon on the floor on his towel, Shannon went to the first engine. Other than on the flight-deck using the controls there, the easiest way to shut down the engines was the plasma input valves. Turn those and no fuel meant the engines would stop. That sounded fine in principle. Her tiny hands didn’t have the strength to turn them. Looking around, Shannon saw the tool-rack. Selecting a long screwdriv
er, she inserted the tip into the valve and this acted as a lever to turn the valve off. Immediately she felt the ship respond, now running on one engine. She repeated the process with the second valve and had both engines shut down. That wasn’t enough. The bad man could easily turn the valves on again and restart the engines from the flight-deck. That was just basic stuff for an experienced pilot.

  Using the handle of the big screwdriver as a hammer, she struck the valves repeatedly until their handles were smashed and unusable. Behind her, the steel door opened, slamming against the wall.

  ‘It’s all over kid.’

  ‘My Daddy will kill you if you touch me.’

  ‘Your damn daddy wouldn’t dare do anything with you and that baby on-board.’ Martin limped over to the engines and saw the damage done to the valves. It was easily repairable with new parts and any sensible pilot carried various bits and pieces. But the thread on the valve housing was badly damaged, meaning a new valve handle couldn’t be fitted. The girl knew what she was doing. ‘Time I had a talk to your daddy.’

  Martin was going for the baby on the floor, but Shannon had other ideas. As the man bent over, Shannon drove the blade into his buttocks, twisting hard, pulling the tool out again. Martin yelled in pain, aimed a punch at the girl and missed, falling almost on top of Dixon. Shannon scooped Dixon up and moved him away from the man. Then, with Dixon safe, she jabbed at the man’s eyes, missing them, but cutting his face badly on both cheeks. Then she planted a well aimed foot hard on his nose, causing that to run with blood. The gun was on the floor next to him, so Shannon grabbed it and leaving him leaking blood from most body parts, she carried Dixon to the flight-deck.

  * * *

  ‘The ship’s stopped,’ said Thorne.

  ‘I’m thinking that’s not a good sign,’ replied Raven. ‘We’re pretty damn close to being in laser range.’

  ‘I need to be shooting at the back of the ship to knock out the thrusters for good.’

  Raven said, ‘Just you keep us out of his range.’

  ‘Daddy.’

  ‘Shannon?’

  ‘Daddy. I stopped the ship. I broke the valves. We can’t go anywhere.’

  Raven gasped. ‘You want a job in the D S I, you got one.’

  ‘Daddy. I hurt him. I hurt him bad. Stabbed his legs.’

  ‘You what? You stabbed him you said?’

  There came a noise over the speakers. ‘Yeah, the little bitch-freak stabbed me. But guess what? I ain’t dead yet.’

  ‘Daddy!!!’

  There came the sound of a struggle and a scuffle. Shannon was screaming, and so was Thorne, on his feet, yelling into the microphone.

  ‘Martin. Hurt my girl, I will get you. I will rip you to pieces, you bastard.’

  ‘You’ll do nothing.’ Martin had wrestled the laser from Shannon and was pointing it at the baby. Shannon stopped fighting.

  Raven screamed, ‘I’m Boss. You hurt those kids, there’ll not be a rock big enough for you to slither under. It’s all over. Give yourself up.’

  ‘I’ve a better idea. I’m thinking you can’t shoot at me, but I sure as hell can shoot the crap out of you. You want to see these kids alive again, you back off. And I mean way off. Here’s the deal. I land on a planet with air and drop off the kids. Then I go find my new home, let you know where you can find them. We have a deal?’

  ‘That’s a plan?’ Raven whispered to Thorne. ‘That ship can’t even fly. He’s losing it.’

  ‘Daddy. He’s pointing his gun at Dixon.’

  Raven snarled, ‘Wait until I get my hands on that son of a bitch.’

  ‘We have to buy us time,’ whispered Thorne. ‘We have to keep him busy and away from the kids. Hey, Martin. You gotta deal. Can you fix the valves?’

  ‘Yeah. You have spares?’

  ‘In a storage locker at the back of the engine room. Go fix it, and we’ll back away. But you hurt those kids, you’ll find a whole new meaning to the word pain. Got me?’

  ‘I’ll leave them safe, I swear. Just back off. I want to see your ship off my radar screen. Get lost.’

  ‘Daddy, no. Don’t leave me with him.’

  Both tough men were shedding tears at the little girl’s pleas. ‘Trust us, Shannon. Trust us, ok?’

  ‘Scram!’ yelled Martin.

  Thorne turned his ship and with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, headed away from his daughter.

  ‘I take it we aren’t actually leaving?’ said Raven.

  ‘The hell we are. Look. If Shannon did a good enough job of wrecking the valves, even assuming Martin has the skills to do it, it would take at least three hours. That’s how long it would take me, and I know what I’m doing. And he’s a man leaking blood all over the place.’

  Raven said, ‘And he can’t watch the screen or shoot the laser while he’s fixing it. Great thinking, Sam. But what are we doing in the meantime?’

  ‘Shooting the ship is still a dumb idea. This is what we’re going to do.’

  Chapter 400

  Knowing Martin would be too busy to be on the flight-deck, Shannon decided to look after Dixon. She gathered him up and went to the kitchen. She was furious as she placed him carefully on the table, gathered clean cloths and wet those with soapy water. As she cleaned Dixon, gently because of the angry looking rash, she couldn’t believe her Daddy and Uncle Tagg just leaving them like they did. Then she remembered her father’s words. ‘Trust us, Shannon. Trust us, ok?’

  ‘He’s got a plan, Dixon. Well, I tell you something. If that nasty bad man’s fixing the engines, we’re having a proper feed. Yes, Pinky. You too.’

  With Dixon cleaned off and safe, Shannon got the best of the “proper” food and cooked a hearty meal and found more of Dixon’s capsules. Washing his feeder out properly, she fed Dixon, burped him and set him down on a pile of blankets from her bedroom, then ate until she was stuffed to the gills. Pinky gorged herself on the good stuff, complimented the chef by peeing on the floor, curled up by her feet and went to sleep.

  Martin had spent ten minutes with the first-aid kit, patching up what he could, all with his one useful hand. He could have used some of the painkillers, but he had to have his mind straight to fix the valves. He went to the engine room, found the storage chest of spare parts and the new valves. He had been patching up his old freighter for years and there weren’t many jobs he couldn’t tackle.

  The kids on the ship were both a curse and a blessing. Nobody was going to be shooting his ship with those on board. The repair would take as long as it took. He took the spares and the tools to start the job, then his head swam like the fish in the seas. An hour later, he woke up, and he couldn’t tell which part of him hurt the most. He needed water.

  Dragging himself to his feet, he staggered through the ship to the kitchen. There was no sign of the brat, the baby or dog, which suited him. He drank his fill of water and washed his head with cold water to revive him. It didn’t. He had to get back to work. Passing an open doorway, he saw the girl, baby and puppy together on a bed, fast asleep.

  Moving on, he returned to the engine room. Shannon heard him leave, opened one eye to be sure. She’d fooled him. With Martin out of her way for some time, she ran to the flight-deck. There on the screen was a blip heading their way.

  ‘I trusted you, Daddy. Daddy. Can you hear me?’

  ‘Loud and clear. Where is he?’

  ‘Fixing the engines.’

  ‘Good. Now. Listen very carefully to what I’m about to say.’

  Chapter 401

  As moments of truth went, this one was a biggie. Had Martin ventured from the engine room and into the flight-deck, he would have been hard put to miss the dirty great freighter supposedly heading away, was actually pulling along side. A very brave and capable seven year old girl was fully suited and waiting in the airlock, the inner door closed.

  Shannon caught the line from her father and secured it to the anchor mountings. Tagg Raven and her father pulled themselves along the line, hitting the
controls to fasten the airlock.

  ‘Is he still in the engine room?’

  ‘Yes, Daddy. He has a gun.’

  Thorne said, ‘We know. Look, sweetie. You have to stay out of the way. We have to get this man.’

  ‘Ok. I’ll stay with Dixon.’

  Raven said, ‘He could be right the other side of that door, ready to shoot us.’

  ‘Stand behind us, Shannon.’

  Thorne hit the inner airlock door, ready to hurl himself bodily at Martin, had he been there. He wasn’t.

  ‘Ready, Tagg?’

  ‘More than ready. They turned into the passageway to be stopped in their tracks. Martin was standing there, gun in one hand, Dixon on the floor in front of him.

  ‘I’m not sure who to shoot first. You two muppets, or the kids. You really think I bought that crap about you leaving the kids? I knew you’d double back. And guess what? You just delivered me a working ride.’

  ‘Hey,’ said Raven. ‘No need for anyone to die today. Like you said. You have a working ship just outside. You can leave us safe on this ship, take the other one. You’ll be millions of miles away by the time we fix this ship.’

  ‘Easier to just kill you all.’

  Raven looked down at his beautiful son at the killer’s feet. ‘Come on. You really want to kill a little baby?’

  ‘The second you get the chance, you’ll jump me.’

  ‘You can lock us up,’ said Thorne, backing Raven. ‘Go ahead. Lock us up, take that ship. You don’t need to kill us.’

  Martin looked down at the baby. ‘Just how low had he sunk to even think of killing an innocent baby?

  ‘You,’ Martin said, waving the gun at Thorne. ‘As you can see, my suits damaged. I’ll take yours.’

  Thorne said, ‘It’s yours.’

  Both Martin and Thorne stripped to their underwear, Martin managing to keep the gun trained on them. Thorne kicked the suit across the floor. Martin could sense the men were like coiled springs, ready to dive at him. He shot Thorne in the thigh and he collapsed in agony on the floor.