Books by Randolph Lalonde
THE CHAOS CORE SERIES
Trapped
Cool Pursuit
Savage Stars
THE SPINWARD FRINGE SERIES
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 1 and 2: Resurrection and Awakening
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 3: Triton
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 4: Frontline
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 5: Fracture
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments
The Expendable Few: A Spinward Fringe Novel
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 8: Renegades
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 9: Warpath
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10: Freeground
OTHER BOOKS
Brightwill
Dark Arts
For more information, please visit:
www.RandolphLalonde.com
COOL PURSUIT
CHAOS CORE BOOK 2
Randolph Lalonde
Copyright © 2016 by Randolph Lalonde
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Randolph Lalonde.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Thank you for supporting the author by purchasing this book. Every honest reader counts.
EBook ISBN: 978-1-988175-06-5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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02
03
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07
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Year 998.4 United Core Authority Calendar
The Basic Era
Humanity is slowly recovering from a galactic holocaust. After a virus that turned artificial intelligences against them ravaged the population and reduced centuries old systems of law and order to mere memory, the once civilized core worlds have become mostly lawless territory. Mostly.
The United Core Authority discovered a tool, a new virus they began using to prevent artificial intelligences from communicating with other computer systems digitally, reducing their effectiveness and turning the tide of the war. Along with a campaign to neutralize advanced technology that is not under their control, they have managed to quiet the open war that threatened to end humanity in a growing group of solar systems.
New wars begin, some driven by artificial intelligences who have become trapped in single metal chassis, others conducted by humans with grand ideas and too much hardware. Any spacer will tell you that the conflict map changes daily, and while that provides opportunity for some, it is also a constant source of danger.
Slavery is the fastest growing industry now that mankind has lost trust in intelligent machines. People of all ages run the risk of being captured and sold if they are caught alone in the streets. The drive to reclaim technology that was once used to create enhanced and custom humans is on. There are examples of this golden age of human production from before the Holocaust, when artificial intelligences turned on their masters. They were made from entirely synthetic reproductive materials, customized to have restricted life spans and unrestricted potential. They are called dolls.
Some of them were able to escape during the Holocaust, others remain in service to their masters, but they are all highly sought after since the laboratories and other facilities responsible for their creation are surrounded by armies led by artificial intelligences that will do anything to prevent humanity from getting their hands on the tools for progress in the Geist System.
Through this, the elements of humanity that were already used to hiding – criminals and the ultra-wealthy – have thrived in their own ways. The difference between the two have become only skin deep, and they control the spaces where humanity tries to thrive. Both sides are ruthless in their quest to be in power when order is restored, while the United Core Authority operates as a military dictatorship on the few worlds they can afford to police regularly.
After saving everyone she could and winning her freedom from her old master, the Countess, Spin Dunewell begins her search for a safe place where they can catch their breath, gather the money they earned from ransoming members of the Countess’ court, and buy or steal a ship that will be more difficult for their enemies to trace. All the while, some of Spin’s friends are growing more focused on getting revenge on Captain White for betraying them to the Core Authority. That is a goal that could put them in more danger and complicate Spin’s plan to gear up and run.
01
The weapon had become an artefact. Objectively, it was a nice gun, with well-polished metal surfaces, a brute spinning cylinder inside another atop a trigger and handle. The clip carried only fourteen rounds. It should seem like just another object in the bottom of Spin’s bag, but it was the weapon that murdered Larken.
A few of those engineered frack rounds spun from its barrel, broke apart and put great big holes in his torso. She could have put him in stasis with medication if another one hadn’t ricocheted and torn through the back of his head. That should have been the end, but he was just conscious enough to look her in the eye, tell her how much he loved her, that she should move on, and then he died in unimaginable agony, squeezing her hand and grind his teeth together so hard that she could hear the squeak of the enamel.
That weapon reminded her of his last moments. When she thought of him, tried to reach those happy memories, those blood soaked minutes got in the way. She could only see him suffering. The weapon was an artefact, it had become something special, unique. No other thing in the universe had done what that had done.
“Retiring the shredder?” asked Sun as she leaned into the doorway of the quarters Aspen had borrowed for their two-day journey.
“Just saving it for a special occasion,” Spin replied. “I found a multiplier pistol in the arms locker. There wasn’t much else in there, a few stunners, a bandolier of EMP grenades and a dermal printer.”
“High res or?”
“High resolution enough to print new dermal computers, communication links, and whatever else. I already printed a comlink on my jaw. Can you see it?” Aspen asked.
Sun took a look at where Spin pointed at her right jawline. “I can’t see it at all, it blended right in.”
“I doubt all but the best scanners could pick it up. We’d better keep the printer away from Nigel, or he’ll burn it out adding display surfaces to his skin.”
“Good thinking, he’s already got two comlinks printed somewhere on his face, and both his forearms are stitched up with intelligent displays, so he doesn’t need any more upgrades.”
“He got the other arm done?” Spin asked.
“Yeah, and most of his back.”
“I never understood the need to get a display surface printed into your back. You’re the only one who can’t see it.”
“Ah, he’s just a modder junkie, like those people with tattoos in old holos and period flicks.”
“I guess so,” Spin said. “We’re almost in the Diori System?”
“Yeah, a few minutes from emergence,” Sun replied. “
I’ve been meaning to ask, are you okay? I heard who Larken was to you, Della told me about it last night. You never talked about him.”
“I thought I did. I thought I told you about him. Doesn’t matter, when I was on the Cool Angel, I was sure he was dead,” Spin said. “I took over a year to move on, and even then I thought about him every day. Less, you know how it is, but still, every day.”
“I don’t really know how it is, he was like your other half, wasn’t he?” Sun asked. “You’ve also been off on your own a lot, and sleeping half the day.”
“I took something, it’s taken care of, at least for another three weeks. The sleeping, well, I’ve mostly been thinking, dreaming.” More like brooding, preparing, Spin thought. “Running a lot of katas, doing a lot of yoga to clear my head.”
“You don’t have to do it alone,” Sun said. “And you shouldn’t take more of that stuff. Those drugs are for the worst cases, catatonia, constant panic attacks, hypervigilance and delusions.”
“When I took that little pill my mind had stopped. I hated everything around me so much that I almost spaced Mirra and Della along with the body of the pilot who killed Larken. Della’s tears brought me back to my senses just enough to stop me from doing something horrible, and Mirra calmed me down enough to start thinking a few minutes ahead. If it weren’t for this drug, I would be curled up in a ball right in that corner, and I bet you’d still be waist deep in toxic sludge.”
“Sounds like you owe more to Dell and Mirra than to any pill.”
“Maybe, but I’d rather take a pill every few weeks to dull my grief for Larken and be as useful as I can be for all the time I have left than spend the rest of my life suffering for the loss.” Spin closed her duffel bag and walked past her into the corridor. “I’ll be fine. Oh, and if you want to practice anything, just ask. I’m sure the whole crew could use it to clear their heads.” She continued on to the stairs leading up to the cockpit where Nigel watched the scanners.
“That’s not the point, everyone wants to support you while you get through this.”
Spin turned and faced Sun at the top of the stairs. “I’m fine. I can’t see what anyone could do to help. The meds take the edge off; I can focus on what’s important. When I’m not busy with that, I can mope and feel sorry for myself in private.”
“Um, coming out of FTL in a few seconds here,” Nigel said, getting out of the pilot’s seat. “I’ll fly this thing if you want, but I’m no pilot.”
“No worries, we were finished,” Spin said as she dropped into the chair. “I’ll take the controls, Sun’s distracted by my lack of wailing and whining.”
“I think I’ll go see if our passengers are ready to go,” Nigel said, hastily escaping from the cockpit.
“I’m just watching out for you,” Sun said. “If you say you’re all right, then okay, but if you need someone to help you through this, I’m here.”
“Okay, got it,” Spin said. The Fleet Feather emerged from the wormhole and new sensor information was added to the pre-emptive scans that were already under way. Their destination, Gena Station, was only minutes away. “It’s an old colony ship,” Spin said. “Shouldn’t we be picking up energy readings at this distance though? Maybe some port traffic?”
“Yeah, Genna’s always busy,” Sun said, adjusting the scanners. “There are usually hundreds of ships around. There’s usually an old British Alliance carrier around too, it’s the main defence.”
Spin increased the range of their scans as she and Sun watched the results come in. There was some wreckage spread across thousands of kilometres, but no active ships or buoys.
“This isn’t bad, it’s whoa-crazy bad,” Nigel called up from below. “I’m watching the scanners, and I’m only picking up basic life support on the station. There are no ships around it, a holy-fuck-ton of damage to the port side, and a few cargo containers tucked in to an open section.”
“Is that a metric holy-fuck-ton, or an Issyrian standard measure holy-fuck-ton?” Sun asked as she scanned through the data.
“Either way, I don’t think your boy Quino or his people are here. If they are, they must have gotten slagged along with whoever was unlucky enough to see this go down first hand,” Nigel said.
“The scrambling field is still up,” Sun said. “Just enough signal noise to make small life signs inside impossible to pinpoint. There could be scavengers aboard, we wouldn’t be able to see unless there were thirty, maybe forty of them in a small area.”
“I’m sure there are,” Spin said. “If those containers weren’t sign enough, there are still computers in there,” Spin said. “Navigational guidance computers, small ones. Our antenna’s picking a few of them up, so the cherry pickers and bigger outfits probably haven’t found this place yet.”
“Excuse me,” asked a female voice from below. “We aren’t going there, are we? From what I’m overhearing, it sounds bad.”
It was one of their less useful passengers, a young woman who was sent to the work camp by the Countess as a punishment. Spin hadn’t taken the time to get to know most of them, especially since they were only waiting, eating their food and breathing their air until they reached a somewhat civilized port. “Della,” Spin said into her comm.
“Wow, your new communicator’s nice and clear. Yes, Spin?”
“Can you make sure our passengers are comfortable?”
“Miss? Are we going there? It sounds dangerous?” the woman at the bottom of the stairs pressed.
Della was there a few seconds later. “Don’t worry, they know what they’re doing. Just have a seat and we’ll tell you what we’re doing once we know for sure, okay?”
“I’m just,” the woman stammered. “I have to contact my brother, you know, he’ll want to know what the Countess did to me. He’ll need to know where I am so he can come for me.”
“I know. We’ll get to civilization soon.”
Sun shook her head and leaned away from the scanner displays. “There’s maybe a handful of people in there, the scramblers keep me from finding out where, but we won’t be alone if we go aboard.”
“This may be worth checking though,” Spin said. “If I can get one or two of those navigational nodes, the small ones, I could use them to make new hardware transponders. Maybe even add a security layer to our next ship.”
“That could save us hundreds of thousands of credits,” Sun said. “But I don’t want to take too much of a risk. I’m thinking we should move on, leave the vultures to pick at this.”
“We just get aboard quick, run for the nearest node, pull one, maybe two of the smallest computers, and run back.” The converted colony ship came into view. It was over three kilometres long and two wide with nearly three hundred decks. “We’ll do a close pass with the Fleet Feather, try to get past their scramblers and then dock where we don’t see scavengers. If this was an official claim…”
“There would be a buoy announcing it,” Sun said. “So they’re not supposed to be here either.”
“Right. So, we might need the tech if we want to make our next ship untraceable, are we getting it?”
Sun thought for a moment, looking at the large grey and green station that filled the cockpit window. “We split up, give ourselves half an hour and bug out.”
“An hour, I know we can get some serious tech in one hour. The more we bring to the table when we meet someone who we can trade this ship in to, the better.”
“All right, an hour,” Sun said. “No risks, if any of us run into armed opposition, we get back here and move on. We’ll have to land somewhere in the Diori system to drop our passengers off and ask about Quino, see if his people got off the station.”
“Sounds good to me,” Spin said, leaving the pilot’s seat. “You’re the better pilot.”
“We’ll have to do something about that,” Sun said, sitting down. “You need more practice.”
“I’ll get it.”
02
It was like a race, with Nigel, Sun and her all running thro
ugh the corridors on the starboard side of the station. They stayed away from the control centre and engineering, that is where they’d find serious scavengers. They all took different corridors so they could get as much as possible then get out. “I got one!” Sun said over their encrypted channel.
“What? It’s only been five minutes!” Nigel replied. “I’m going deeper, going to find a real jackpot, I bet there’s even a store in this section.”
“Just get the navigational nodes, they’ll be worth a lot more than anything you find in a store,” Spin said as she skidded to a stop in front of a panel. There was a node right behind it, cheerily announcing the location, spin rate, trajectory, and other essential data to any systems that would listen. A station that size needed that kind of technology to keep itself together, and to make managing it much easier for the administration. Why they used such high quality components for a simple task was beyond Spin, but from the looks of the darkened corridors, everything in the converted colony ship was top of the line. As she pried the access panel loose and started detaching the palm sized, sealed computer from its interface cables, she wished that she’d had a chance to see the station in its prime. “Got one,” she said as the last cable came loose. The computer kept running for several seconds before it powered down. “This one’s in an impact case, like a black box.”
“Mine was too, whoever had this ship built spent more money than all of us have ever seen put together,” Sun said. “This place is going to be crawling with vultures like us in no time.”
“Going down a few levels, may be out of comm range for a few minutes, see you back on the ship,” Nigel said.
“Don’t go too far, Nigel, these aren’t worth getting left behind for,” Sun said. “Nigel? God dammit, he’s already out of range.”
Cool Pursuit: Chaos Core Book 2 Page 1
