Captains Malicious (The Liberation Series Book 1)

by T. R. Harris

  Having Paul aboard did help alleviate some of the foreboding, even if the elderly gentleman couldn’t go more than a couple of hours without needing a nap. For that, Robert envied the man.

  The pirate base was located in the Nina-Crist Asteroid Belt a mere six hours out from Ione, yet it had taken nearly two days to reach it in the Kai Shek. Drake had insisted on making sure they weren’t followed or tracked before even allowing Robert to give him the coordinates. Robert thought his precautions were a little extreme, but he did respect the fact that Drake cared enough to take them. In the two weeks since Kincaid’s incarceration, there was no telling who would have said what to whom, and old friends, now running scared, might have been tempted to curry favor from the all-powerful Vixx’r by revealing what they knew.

  In fact Robert wasn’t even sure there would still be a pirate base to return to. Once word of his arrest reached his crew, he fully expected most of them to abandon the cause and head back to their homes and families. And who would blame them? The majority of his military crew were left over from Earth’s prior presence in the Reaches, along with a smattering of former staff personnel who had remained loyal to the UPE after their departure. And although all thirty-six of his original crew had experience aboard starships, only eleven had ever served aboard a warship, and of those, four had actual combat experience.

  Before their departure from Ione, Javon Steele had told Robert that a total of eighteen new recruits had been secured as a result of the meeting at The Rusty Duck, or at least it had been eighteen. Once he was arrested, everyone stopped in their tracks, not knowing what to do next. Would they carry on under the leadership of Javon Steele, or would the unit dissolve completely? All the recruits returned to their normal lives, either relieved by the reprieve, or disappointed that they were being denied the opportunity to lay their hands on a boatload of Vixx’r loot.

  All eighteen had been contacted upon Robert’s escape, and fourteen still agreed to join him. But he also had the three prisoners from the mess hall, led by the massive Roland Hendricks, plus another three of the six kitchen staff. So all in all, Robert was returning to his base with a total of twenty new recruits—if there was even a base to return to and not just a cold, empty hole in the ground.

  *****

  ROBERT Kincaid first discovered asteroid NFS-1924 when he was seventeen while flitting about in one of KST’s four-person hoppers. These were the halcyon days of Kincaid Shipping and Transport, before the discovery of the Vixx’r, before the war and before the occupation of the Reaches.

  His father, Cyrus, had just taken over the reins of the company from an elderly yet still involved Simon Kincaid and was in the process of building the business into one of the largest conglomerates in the region. During that time the company was expanded into fuel refining, packaging, and even hotels and other real estate interests. A lot of money changed hands, and his father seemed to have the Midas touch. Soon KST was ranked as the fifth largest employer in all the Reaches, and number three in net revenue.

  The UPE was growing as well, having launched a major settlement effort in the area called the Shadowlands beyond the Reaches. With this new expansion, what had once been the outermost boundary of Human civilization was now firmly ensconced within the realm of Man, which promised a lot more commerce, tourism and shipping needs throughout the colony.

  KST was positioned to take advantage of the boom times, and as a consequence, the handsome and virile only child of the Kincaid Dynasty would want for nothing. Yet even with all his wealth and family name, the young Robert Kincaid was well-liked and respected, having somehow developed a personality and dignity few of his contemporaries seemed to duplicate. As a result, he gravitated more towards the common folk, spending most of his time among the ferry pilots and maintenance crews. He was granted a licensing exception as a certified Merchant Pilot 1st Class at age eleven, when he nearly aced the written exam. His reputation only increased when he left his flight-tester raving about the young prodigy’s exceptional flying skills, something the official was not supposed to do in public. That alone would have made him a legend among his peers, yet by that time Robert Kincaid could also crawl under the hood and work on just about any onboard system his father’s fleet of starships had to offer.

  Indeed, Robert Kincaid was destined for great things.

  If only his parents had lived.

  With the Nina-Crist Asteroid Belt only a few hours from Ione, Robert and his friends spent much of their time playing war games among the massive space boulders, and it was where he honed his battle skills and instincts. Once he joined the military, the twenty-one-year-old became an instant standout because of these skills, placing him on the fast-track for advancement.

  NSF-1924 was one of the larger rocks in the belt, so it was only by a stroke of luck that he’d found the entrance to the long tunnel that would later serve as his pirate lair. At some point in its distant past, the asteroid had been struck by a smaller body as it was congealing and was more a mass of lightly compacted space dirt than the hard rocky body it was to become. The other object penetrated to a depth of four miles before expending all its kinetic energy, leaving behind a huge crater and a nearly hidden access to the tunnel that was so much deeper than the surface scar. It was estimated that if the projectile had gone in another three miles, NSF-1924 would have shattered completely and never survived to become Robert’s hidden refuge.

  When President Simms offered him the charter, she sweetened the pot with a semi-functional warship—the Righteous, as it was called the—plus nine derelict vessels which he could use for salvage parts. Without hesitation, Robert proposed NSF-1924 as the hiding place for the president’s largess. He also had her provide a used airlock shield, large enough to cover over a splinter tunnel deep within the asteroid. He was then able to place all his raw material in a secure area which made working on the vessels that much easier.

  Even though 1924 had a small gravity influence of its own, Kincaid had a series of dark matter gravity strips placed along the floor of his base, and using neutron generators hidden on the surface, was able to harness enough rogue DM to provide a Human-normal gravity for the facility.

  All in all, the place wasn’t that bad to live and work in. As the Kai Shek made her final approach to the dark hole at the center of the striated crater, Robert realized it was his new home, and would remain so for who knew how long. The thought was too depressing, so he decided to focus on the mission…and nothing but the mission.

  *****

  WITH outside running lights ablaze, Bondel Drake personally piloted the Kai Shek down the narrow, black tunnel that Kincaid had assured him contained a pirate stronghold at its base. Even though the shaft was only four miles long, it seemed to take an eternity to reach the bottom. The going was exceedingly slow, since he wasn’t used to operating his starship in such tight quarters. His vessel was built for the stars and the vast areas surrounding them—appropriately called space, and Bondel Drake wasn’t comfortable within a place so obviously devoid of that commodity.

  Prior to reaching the asteroid and the entrance tunnel, the Kai Shek had maintained radio silence, but now Kincaid was on the comm, seated behind Drake and to his left. He was talking to someone, so that was encouraging. At least one person remained at the base. It’s a start, Drake thought.

  “A-Okay,” Robert called out with a smile. “Twenty-three are still here, as are the Malicious and Revenge.”

  “I thought your main ship was called the Righteous?” said Drake’s co-pilot, Claudia Damon.

  “Technically it is. Malicious is the name the crew gave her, based on our mission parameters.”

  “I wondered how you got the name of Captain Malicious. I thought it was just some focus-group-tested moniker designed to invoke fear in the Vixxie.”

  “Not much invokes fear in those greasy bastards, except possibly not having enough jewelry on to impress their god.”

  “In that regard, I can relate,” Claudia said with a smile, �
��although I don’t get much chance these days to dress to impress.”

  Drake looked over at her with a frown. “You’re more than welcome to get all dolled-up anytime you want, my dear. You won’t hear any complaints from me.”

  “You mean just as long as none of my jewelry gets caught on a spanner wrench or sucked into a DM compression chamber.”

  “That goes without saying. This is an expensive piece of machinery, and a guy has to have his priorities.”

  “They’re opening the airlock,” Kincaid said, putting an end to the friendly banter between pilot and co-pilot, and likely on-again, off-again lovers.

  Light flooded the bottom of the tunnel, erupting from a source off to the right. Drake flicked off the Kai Shek’s running lights in deference to that escaping from the pirate base, the outside brilliance assailing his eyes after so long in near darkness. He reached the base of the tunnel and then turned the Kai Shek to starboard before slowly approaching the massive steel portal. There was a second diaphragm airlock door farther on, making it possible for ships to come and go without having to evacuate the atmosphere from the rest of the base. It was also apparent that the gravity was turned off, because Drake only had to fight the modest influence of the asteroid while making his delicate maneuvers.

  Once inside the huge airlock, the first diaphragm closed and air was pumped into the chamber. In less than five minutes, the other door opened and Drake steered his craft into the main part of the pirate base.

  The Kai Shek settled on a steel landing grid, nestled up against the much larger Malicious. Both ships now gave a deceptive profile as long, sleek vessels, since all their sails were furled and the masts folded and retracted. Drake and Claudia unfastened their safety harnesses and went to stand near the wide forward viewport. Robert Kincaid came up beside them.

  “So this is it?” Claudia asked, never being one to mince words. From her tone, she wasn’t impressed.

  “Yeah, where’s the dreadnaught?” Drake asked, his own disappointment obvious, as well.

  “She’s here,” Robert said. “This chamber is huge, and stretches for over a mile around to the right. The Revenge is back in there while the repairs are taking place. She not only lost her aft mast, but my gunners did a pretty nasty job with their plasma shells. Even if we can find the parts within the salvage ships it could take a month to get her operational again.”

  Drake looked out over the vast cavern and saw what appeared to be nothing more than a junkyard. Just beyond the landing grid were the plundered remains of half a dozen starships, ranging in size from marauders of the Kai Shek’s size, all the way up to one vessel twice as large as the Malicious. They were strewn about haphazardly, some with whole sides stripped off rigid, curved bulkhead ribs, while others had large cavities on their top decks where once their masts had been. There didn’t seem to be much left that could be useful, yet Drake knew this was an illusion. Sailors had been salvaging the remains of derelict vessels from time immemorial, putting everything imaginable to use and reuse. There were still a lot of resources to be found within the wreckage.

  Still, Drake was disappointed at the dirty, sloppy look of the base. He expected more from an ex-military officer, as well as someone of Kincaid’s pedigree.

  “What are all those?” Claudia asked, pointing to several rows of assorted doorways set into the lower walls of the cavern.

  “Crews quarters, mainly,” Kincaid answered. “There were a few naturally occurring holes in the walls when we got here and some of the men began to carve living spaces out of them. When they ran out of the natural ones they began to take plasma torches to the rock and cut their own.”

  “They live in them?”

  “Yeah, and some are quite nice. They’ve cut platforms for mattresses to make beds, as well as desks and shelving. Even more holes have been cut for closets and other storage. With plenty of doors available from the derelicts, all we had to do was string in some electrical lines and install refuse incinerators and suddenly you have all the comforts of home. The largest of the dwellings is over a thousand square feet with two bedrooms. They sure beat the crew accommodations aboard the Malicious.”

  “So which one is yours?” Claudia asked.

  Robert smiled. “Remember, I’m the Captain of the Malicious, so my digs aboard the ship are rather nice. That’s where I stay.”

  “I must say, Kincaid, I was expecting a more spit-and-polish operation out of someone like you,” Drake said.

  “Forgive me, Mr. Drake, but you have to remember we’ve only been here for six months, and half that time was spent just getting the Malicious space-worthy again. We haven’t had a lot of time to make things nice and presentable for guests. In fact the work on the Malicious is never done. We still have four complete cannon batteries to remove from the cruiser over there and attach to the hull. And with the Revenge also in need of major repair, it could be a while before we can get the maid service up and running.”

  Drake was about to make another comment when he was interrupted by an announcement over the comm system.

  “Attention: Gravity will be restored in sixty seconds. Secure all loose objects and beware of falling debris. Fifty-five seconds….” The countdown continued to zero. The Kai Shek continued operating on her own internal gravity, so the three of them didn’t notice the shift; however, Drake spied a faraway crewman tumbling head over heels down the side of the cavern. When he reached the base of the large chamber he slid to a stop and sat up, holding his head. After a moment he managed to climb to his feet and waddle off, apparently none the worse for wear.

  “Mr. Drake,” Robert said drawing his attention back from the plight of the tumbling crewmember. “Since you’re a skilled pilot of some note, I would like to offer you a field commission to commander and put you in charge of training some of the new recruits for bridge duty. Is that something you’d accept?”

  Drake shrugged. “I did volunteer, yet I did it only to be part of a pirate crew, and not some rinky-dink military outfit. As you know, I’m kind of an amateur pirate myself, and I feel having a few more ships around me for back-up just might increase my survivability. But sure, I’ll train your bridge crews; but I expect to be back in the hunt soon. Oh, and as an officer, I will be expecting a larger share of the bounty than the normal enlisted pukes.”

  “I’m sure we can work something out. I had some assets stashed throughout the Reaches in anticipation of my being found out, so I won’t be taking the Captain’s share for a while. That should leave plenty to spread among the officers and crew.”

  “You’re not taking a share?” Claudia reiterated. She seemed thoroughly impressed by the admission.

  “Someday, maybe, depending on how long all this lasts—as well as my money. Unfortunately, I only have a finite amount now. I also had to sink a lot into getting this base up and running. Of course at that time I had access to a lot more than I do now.”

  “Well, Mr. Kincaid,” Drake began, “let’s just see if we can’t make you rich again. But that won’t happen by us sitting around here. As soon as possible, you need to gather your forces…and then let’s go find us some Vixx’r ships to pillage and plunder.”

  “You left off rape.”

  “Let’s not go overboard with this whole pirate persona, Kincaid. Besides that last thing I would want to rape would be Sludger.”

  “You guys are disgusting!” Claudia said as she turned on her heel and left the bridge in a huff.

  “Was it something I said?” Drake asked.

  Robert shrugged.

  7

  IT was two weeks later and the integration of the new crew with the old had come off without a hitch. Commander Javon Steele had done a terrific job with the weapons and engine systems, while Bondel Drake had turned out to be a decent instructor with bridge operations, again to Robert’s surprise.

  With the new boots added to his veterans, he now had forty-five crewmembers—including himself and Steele. When he counted in the sixteen Nozama, he barely
had enough to set sail in both his pirate vessels.

  Drake’s Kai Shek had a compliment of five and he guarded his people like they were worth their weight in gold. Already several of his crew had spent an inordinate amount of time aboard the alien dreadnaught, salivating over the spacious accommodations and sheer power of the mighty warship. Drake’s ship was more bare bones, and just about the only thing that kept his people from requesting transfers right away was the difficulty in removing the strong ammonia-like smell from within the alien craft. No matter how luxurious the staterooms, having to wear nose strips twenty-four-seven weakened the appeal.

  Most of the Nozama were training to take over the more routine operations of the six-master, since apparently they had no problem with the lingering odor. As it was for most things having to do with them, their simple minds made for simple needs, and the Nozama were about as basic as they came.

  Drake had been pressuring Robert to set sail again and head out looking for prey. He was all for it, but wanted to include the Revenge in this next hunting trip. The alien dreadnaught, however, was still under repair, and would be for another month by the look of things.

  When they did head out, it was with the Kai Shek in the lead and the Malicious following at a respectable distance. For any ship coming in range, the first ship they’d detect would be the smaller one and not take it as much of a threat. They would drop their guard—at least in theory—right up to the moment the larger, four-masted gravity signature revealed itself.

  Unfortunately, the pickings were slim. The two ships stationed themselves at the narrow edge of the tramline between Ione and Freeland, where most of the interstellar traffic occurred, and waited. Crinous was one of the smaller, rocky planets in the Freeland system, so it was expected that Vixx’r cargo ships would frequent this particular tram. Instead all they could detect were Human vessels, mainly KST ships.