Space Cowboy Survival Guide

by Long, Heather

  “Want me to do some research?” She stood as well.

  “You’re going to do it anyway.”

  “True.” Then she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a fierce hug. It was warm, comforting, and soft. A lot like she was. Allowing her the contact, he rested his chin against the top of her head for a too long moment, then eased away from her. “Shaw…you didn’t kill those people.”

  “Sweetheart, I was there…”

  She gripped his arm, her expression intent. “No, you put them out of their misery, when you blew the building. I agree with that. You didn’t kill them. That stupid treatment killed them. You set them free. Remember that.”

  After releasing him, she slid into his chair and swiveled it to face the info screens. She’d already pulled up the thin file he’d put together on Ansalon before he’d taken a step.

  “Good night, Tika,” he murmured.

  “Good night.”

  At the hatchway, he paused again, and tapped two fingers to the door. “Seal this.”

  “Got it.” After her acknowledgement, he pulled the hatch closed then waited till he heard the seals engage.

  You didn’t kill them. You set them free.

  Whatever helped him sleep at night.

  10

  Rule #1: Always have an exit strategy.

  Shaw Sullivan

  They made the jump back from subspace to normal space cleanly. Long-range sensors reports gave them another two hours of flight before they’d reach the planet of Ansalon. As soon as they cleared normal space, the Gilly’s sensors began scanning all inhabitable worlds within the system. The standard protocol began collecting every ounce of data accessible, even at this range. The first thing Shaw noticed was a number of satellites in orbit. In addition a three natural moons, it also possessed one unnatural moon, which looked suspiciously like a space station.

  “Zed, notify the crew to meet me in the lounge.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  Crew. Had it only been a few short months since he rambled through space by himself, consigned to long weeks of no one for company except for Zed? When was the last time he sat in the lounge and watched a vid? For that matter, when was the last time he read a book? Instead, settling crew disputes, ship repairs, verifying supplies, and tracking down the bad guys had occupied all of his hours.

  Much as he was loath to admit it, he actually had enjoyed the last few weeks far more than he should have. He studied the readouts, from the population to the planetary density. The Gilly could tell a lot from this distance. Not enough though. A fifth satellite appeared on the long-range scans, much smaller, not so much a station as a large satellite. Returning to his station, he leaned down to study the screen. “Magnify.”

  It wasn't a satellite, or a space station… Well, I’ll be damned. It looked like a weapons platform. Three orbited Earth Prime, reportedly programmed for planetary defense rather than bombardment.

  Who the hell were these Order people, and how had they managed to develop so much…?

  “Zed, scan the records of all settled planets prior to the Corbin Space Rush.”

  “Scan complete. Three colonial worlds settled prior to Corbin Space Rush. Private corporate purchases, nationalized in the name the UN.”

  “Do the coordinates of Ansalon match any known coordinates of those three worlds?”

  “Affirmative. Planet designated Ansalon coordinates match that of EA-1.”

  Shaw braced his fists against the consult. The Order of the IV. They weren't just some scientific philosophic bunch a looney toons. No they were a much bigger bunch of looney toons.

  Straightening, Shaw blew out a very long breath. He had two choices. Run, return to his normally scheduled program of planetary sweeps.

  Or fight, and risk everything. Including the family ranch.

  “Zed, run silent. Do not, repeat, do not transmit. Please confirm.”

  “Acknowledged, confirm violation of standard protocol.”

  “Deviation from standard protocol acknowledged and confirmed, Sullivan, Shaw. Captain. Run radio silent.”

  “Acknowledged going to radio silent.” The internal sensors within the Gilly began to shut down one by one. All protocols would lock out any internal scans as well as prevent the Gilly from transmitting in answer to communication signals from the planet. Checking his weapon and the weapon charge. Shaw slid it back into his holster then glanced at his hat in his duster. They would have to wait for now. Descending the short letter to the crew deck, he entered the lounge. The whole complement was present including the prisoner, Byron.

  “Zed, display all known data for the planet and salon in the lounge.”

  “Confirmed.” No questions no grief, just a simple display lighting up detailing the continued gathering of data for the planet and salon.

  “Look familiar to anyone?”

  The crew is a whole studied the display, with only Tika standing to walk over for a closer look.

  “It reminds me of New Athens. Looks a little bit like New Genesis, too, but then most of the earth analog worlds are going to look like home. The landmasses are different but I can't really see all of them. And does it have the space station?”

  “It's not a space station.” Vega said with authority. “It's a shipyard.”

  Shaw pivoted to face the engineer. The man met his level gaze. “Been here before, have you?”

  “Yes.”

  “These are the people you're running from.” It wasn't a question. To his credit, Vega never lied about the trouble he’d run into. Or that he made decisions he shouldn't have. He even said that his work involved building something that shouldn't have been built in the first place. By the time Vega realized what he was building, it was too late.

  “They’re building warships.”

  Of course they were. Shaw felt like an idiot. No wonder the census project had suddenly taken off on Earth. No wonder they were recruiting avidly from Earth Prime and not any of the colonial worlds. They didn't want the colonists to know they were preparing an invasion force. Where else better to do it than to build on one of the first colonial worlds settled? A world absorbed by the United Nations, made a protectorate. The first earth to be settled beyond Earth.

  A headache pounded at the back of his eyes.

  “Shaw, what's going on?” Concern etched into every word Tika spoke.

  “The planet of Ansalon has another designation,” he said, mind made up. He knew what needed to be done. He knew what he wanted the crew to do. But before they went in there, before he took them right down into the belly of the beast, they needed to know what they were facing.

  “Captain Sullivan,” Nina interrupted gently. “We already know that the people here are not friendly. The Order of the IV, they've been doing so many experiments…”

  One hand raised, Shaw asked for and received quiet. Their attention weighed on him as though his mood transmitted on a primal level before repeating, “the planet Ansalon has another designation. The Gilly reports her as EA-1.”

  He gave them a moment to let the information sink in.

  Kestral’s eyes went glacial.

  “You do know with all the options for cataloging planets the EA system has got to be the most boring and least descriptive of them all.” Tika’s pert comment added some much-needed brevity to the mood. “No, I don't know what an EA-1 is. Did you number them in terms of when they were settled, or when they were discovered? I didn't think there were 1200 world out there are 2000 worlds.”

  “They’re numbered in order of discovery and based on their earth analog capability. EA class planets can support human life.”

  “So, EA-1,” Tika said aloud. “It's the first colony.”

  Shaw answered with a single nod. “It was settled before the Corbin Space Rush. It's been out here about 300 to 400 years. It was colonized well before it was announced to the public that colonization was even a possibility. It began with the company who was funding space travel. They managed to get several laun
ches. The first one went to the moon, mirroring what the original NASA program did. Then they went to the Mars. Then they made it to Jupiter and the Titan moon, where they also built the first space platform for craft development. Next came the first interplanetary expedition.” It was all basic information he’d learned in school—or more likely slept through while they lectured about it in school.

  “It was the same company that developed the Rosen Engine.” This from Vega. Of course he would know the history of the engineering achievements.

  “Okay, so it's the first colony world. What does that have to do with the Order of the IV?” Nina could be forgiven not having all the pieces to string together. Tika wore an equally mystified look, though a gleam of suspicion in her eyes had begun to burn through it. Byron simply sank into a chair and buried his face in his hands. Yeah, the wealthy handled everything except getting fooled. If the professor hadn't already had his head so far up his own ass where making good choices was concerned, Shaw might be tempted to feel sorry for him. As it was, Byron was simply another in a long daisy chain of morons who were manipulated by those long practiced at manipulation.

  “Who owns the planet?” Kestral cut right to the chase.

  Shaw's gut clenched. “EA-1 was reclaimed by the UN, then nationalized. The company that owned it was compensated quite handsomely, I'm sure. But EA-1 was designed as a model for all colonization. With the Corbin Space Rush planned in the future, and the advancements made with the Rosen Engine… They wanted—no, they needed—a place that they could say, okay, here all the things to do here all the things not to do.”

  “Ansalon has no EA designation among the colonial worlds though,” Byron said with his face still buried in his hands. “The EA designations are well-known. They may not be used in common vernacular, but they are referred to in the incorporation charters for most worlds. Only worlds not originally chartered by quantifiable colonists from Earth lose the EA designation. And we have a few. Worlds settled by other colonials. New Sparta is one.”

  Tika frowned then tilted her head in thought. “He's right—ugh, I don’t like that I just agreed with him.” Shaking off the sentiment, she continued, “New Sparta was settled by colonists from New Athens, not Earth. In fact, in order to qualify for New Sparta’s land purchases, you had to be at least first generation born New Athenian. Second or third generation receive precedence.”

  “I'm not sure what that means.” It was Vega’s turned to look puzzled. “Does it matter whether the colonists came from a colonial world or from Earth?”

  “It does in term of taxes. It does in term of resource access. It also matters in terms of government. Colonial worlds are required by their initial charters to set aside a portion of land, resources, and funding to be paid back to Earth.” Shaw listed off three things that he knew mattered, because they were three things he was asked to discover about those worlds. “Look at Byron, over there. His family actually owns planets. You think they answer to a government? Do you think they pay taxes? Or do you think they have a standing military? Or are they sitting on these vast planetary landscapes filled with resources just waiting for someone to come in nationalize it and exploit them for themselves?”

  Kestral stared at him the whole time he spoke. “The Order the IV isn't some kind of scientific philosophy as it?”

  Shaw shook his head. “I'm only guessing. But knowing that Anselon is the mysterious home of the Order of the IV and that everything referring to the order refers to their founder who's been dead for at least 200 years… I don't think the Order of the IV exists at all.”

  “Of course they do,” Byron argued as he stood. “I've had negotiations with them. I've had business dealings with them.”

  “With them or with lackeys?” With the sole exception of the moron they had in the hold, who only knew a few key pieces of data, they'd found no one who seemed to be in the know where the order was concerned. Both bases they'd raided and destroyed had only a handful of rent-a-help, from their technicians to their security guards.

  Byron frowned. “I've communicated… We've done calls. The only facility I have visited was on Purgatory. I saw some experiments with the method. They set up there so that I could oversee their progress.”

  Feeling zero sympathy, Shaw stared at him. “And correct any flaws in their execution?”

  Still standing, Byron pressed his knuckles into the tabletop then nodded. “I thought it was an initiation.”

  “You are a moron.” This from Tika, the most compassionate of them all, and the level of disgust in her tone belied her gentle nature. “Who negotiates with proprietary information and doesn't actually meet the people in charge?”

  Of course she was annoyed with him. He’d made a bad business deal. For a too brief second, Shaw felt a surge of amusement. Tika had a good heart, and she possessed compassion in spades, but he did not envy the man who ever tried to screw her out of a good deal. Damn.

  “It doesn't matter. The Order of the IV is a front. I would bet my life on it. Which means what were walking into on that planet isn't some stupid cult, or some insane group of billionaires bent on changing the universe. It's a concerted effort to suppress insurgency and prepare people for invasion well ahead of the invasion launching.”

  “Isn’t that a rather fatalistic approach?” This from Vega.

  “They are building warships, Vega. Why else would you build ships with heavy duty firepower, including plasma cannons? Why support a heavy weapons platform on a satellite? Weapon platforms can easily be towed into another planet’s orbit then activated in order to target any major cities or opposition on the planet surface. And putting it under the thumb of whoever is in charge?”

  The engineer seemed to shrink an inch, his shoulders slumping. “Trying to stay positive, Shaw. I know what I did.”

  “Shaw knows what he did, too,” Kestral said into the quiet. “He's chewing on the bitter pill of working for these people. That he's been scouting out all the defenses for them. Preparing information and getting it ready to send back to Earth. Or were you sending it here?”

  “That's a $10,000 question. One I don't have time to answer.”

  “We’re all with you, no matter what,” Tika declared. From the look of the others, she spoke only for herself, but Shaw appreciated the support.

  “Sweetheart, I'm giving all of you the opportunity right now to get off this boat. I can turn around make the jump to another colony and drop you off. Then, I'll take it from there.”

  “Take what from where?” Kestral demanded.

  “You can't possibly be thinking of attacking them.” Byron stared at him as though he had grown a second head. “You don't even have weapons on the Gilly. You're an unarmed ship. What are you gonna do?”

  “You're fast, brah,” Vega stated evenly. “But you're not fast enough to outrun warships or take on a defense platform.”

  “No one here expects you to do that,” Nina said, though the troubled expression she wore put a dent in his guilt meter. It was bad enough when she thought she might be a serial killer. How much worse could it be to think she was some average person who got dragged into a plot to take over the universe?

  “What you have up your sleeve?” Again, Kestral seemed to have figured it out. Maybe it was all the time they'd been spending together. Maybe it was the fact that the guy thought like he did. Or maybe it boiled down to neither of them enjoyed playing the fool or being used.

  “Thought I might go make some noise. If the weapons platform on EA want is anything like weapons platforms on earth, they're all controlled from central nervous system on the planet. It was thought that by keeping them planetbound, it would restrict the amount of access the platform would have for attacking the planet directly. Also, there was a chance that you could block the signal depending on the location of the platform versus the location of the base.”

  “Okay, I'll bite,” the bounty hunter looked puzzled. “Why would you want to restrict your ability to access your defense platform?”r />
  “Because it wasn't centrally owned.” Tika folded her arms. “And that's why there were three of them. Different governments each having equal power mutually assured destruction. A bound market prevents any advancement, but also prevents anyone from withdrawing, out of fear of losing what market share they have.”

  Shaw cocked finger in and thumb toward Tika. “Politics are about as useful as sand ticks in your chaps and just about as pleasant. But that planet only has one platform.”

  “One government. One power.”

  “Yep, but that also means bureaucracy. One thing I learned since I took this job? Earth government operations love their bureaucracy.” It had frustrated him on many occasions.

  “The problem is, even if you get clearance to dock—which you might get especially if you're recognized as an Earth launched vessel—we’re known. They are gonna recognize your ship, aren't they? Recognize registration?”

  He enjoyed it when she showed off her keen intelligence and sharp understanding of the world around her. “Registration can be faked. IDs can be faked. We can manage all of this and Byron over here has a perfectly good legitimate reason for visiting Anselon, don’t you, Byron?”

  The blonde billionaire gave him a sick look, then sighed. “Yes, yes I do.”

  “Not to mention you can afford to buy your way in.”

  Shaw didn’t feel an ounce of remorse for sticking it to them. After all, their involvement remained in Byron's best interests.

  “All right,” Vega said arms folded. “Make it to the planet. You dock. You make it past the dock master and port security with Wynn’s ID and ship registry. That doesn't get the rest of us out of the ship, nor does it get us anywhere near the range where they have to have the platform controller. Everything on EA-1 is high-tech. They can detect engines, motors, electronics, ships—any technology. They’re always watching for it. They don't need to worry about someone sneaking up on them because no one can approach in any facility without alerting their scanners. Let’s face it, computers talk to each other, the handoffs are automatic.”