ARMS Harris' Revenge

by Arseneault, Stephen

  The ship’s spokesman replied, “We don’t care about your business. Back away or we will be forced to drive you away.”

  Tawn leaned into the comm mic. “Listen, pal, you don’t own this space. You think you can drive us out, then bring it on.”

  Harris looked over his shoulder. “You trying to start trouble?”

  Tawn pointed at the nav display. “Those two lame ships can’t hurt us. Let ‘em try.”

  Harris shook his head. “We don’t need the trouble. The pacifists are looking for any excuse to boot us off the planet.”

  “Let them try,” said Gandy. “I don’t know why you’re so concerned about what the pacifists think.”

  Harris said, “Because the truce agreement says they can ask for help from Domicile, New Earth, or both. I’d rather us not get into a pissing match with them, as we would be the ones who would lose.”

  Harris replied over the comm. “We’re backing off. You have our apologies.”

  Harris nodded at Trish, “Move us back, but keep us within sensor range.”

  Trish steered the small ship away from confrontation as she gave an uneasy look. “Neither of them are broadcasting a registration.”

  Harris nodded. “That bothers me too. How do we find out what they’re up to without getting into a fight?”

  Trish said, “We have a wormhole opening. This should be our people.”

  The freighter slipped through into Eden space.

  Trish yelled, “Those ships are heading for the freighter!”

  Harris took control, pushing the throttle to full. “Power up the railguns! You two, you better strap yourselves in. Something tells me those ships are armed!”

  Harris opened a comm. “Davenport! This is the Bangor! Those ships approaching are hostile! Head our way!”

  “Thank you, Bangor. This is Major Timkins. We’re detecting plasma cannons charging. You’d better make haste.”

  “Be there in eight minutes, Major. Do what you can to avoid fire.”

  The major said, “Roger that, Bangor. We have a team standing by in case they attempt a boarding.”

  Three minutes passed before the first of the two ships fired its cannons. The slower freighter turned to port, avoiding fire for the first and only time. The rounds that followed found their mark on the newly exposed starboard side, ripping into a support deck, killing all who were in that bulkhead section.

  For the next five minutes the Davenport swerved, dove, and rose, all with little effect as the gunships continued with a relentless barrage. The outer sections of the freighter took serious damage, but the inner bulkheads were holding. Then twin shots from the second gunship tore the cargo doors of the second bay open, and two further blasts had the first of the three digging machines in shambles, portions of its digging arms spinning away from the freighter out into the dead of space.

  The Bangor closed fast, firing a stream of tungsten rounds in a spiral pattern, hoping for a hit as the targeted gunship turned hard to starboard. All rounds missed.

  Harris turned his effort toward the second ship, again firing off a burst of railgun rounds in an outward spiraling pattern. The fifth round grazed the gunship, heavily damaging an outer layer of armor plating. Two plasma cannon bursts returned, both impacting the hardened hull and shielding of the Bangor, causing little more than a rumble and a short vibration.

  Harris turned back toward the first gunship as it again fired on the Davenport. Explosions rocked the port side as the freighter attempted to turn into the oncoming fire. Internal fires raged as the burning freighter powered toward the planet of Eden.

  Harris spun the Bangor around for another burst at ship two, now within fifty kilometers. This time the spiral shot found its mark, digging a hole through the gunship, taking its fusion reactors offline, sending the attacking vessel adrift. A quick turn lined the Bangor up for a kill as the gunship fired its plasma cannons into the onrushing vessel. Rumbles shuddered down the ship’s hull as the weak plasma rounds impacted.

  A steady burst from railgun two cut the attacking ship in half, its mate turning to flee after releasing a final barrage from its cannons. A wormhole opened and the remaining gunship slipped through.

  The major came over the comm. “Thank you, Bangor. We have heavy damage… but we’ll make it.”

  “Roger that, Davenport. Should be clear going in. But keep it slow through that atmosphere. Looks like you’ve lost a third of your exterior plating.”

  The major nodded. “We’ll do our best. See you on the ground.”

  Harris turned the Bangor toward the now defunct gunship.

  “What are we doing?” asked Trish.

  “We’re checking for survivors. I think we have a good idea of who sponsored this. Would like to know for sure though.”

  The centuries-old Zwicker class shuttle pulled to a stop alongside the larger of the two ship remnants. Trish performed a bioscan.

  “Hmm. I show two life-signs. Over in this section of the nose… might even be the bridge.”

  “Take us in, Miss Boleman. Extend the docking tube to any of those exposed decks.”

  Harris stood from his chair. “Miss Freely, may I escort you over to the remaining portion of that ship?”

  Tawn nodded. “Yes you may.”

  Gandy nervously checked the charge on the Fox-40 strapped to his hip.

  After moving through the airlock, the two Biomarines hopped onto the exposed deck in the middle of the ship.

  Harris asked, “Trish, have the two life-signs moved?”

  “Still in the same spot. You’ll have to get through that bulkhead and then through an inner door.”

  Tawn looked over the wall in front of her. “This looks solid still. Trish, any way around this? Does the structure of the area they’re in show any compromise?”

  Trish altered her view of the scan. “It does actually. Go down two decks. You should find a seam split, allowing you through. Beyond that is a set of doors that look intact. One leads up a stairwell that runs to the top deck. You get through that door and the door two decks up should be functional. The life-signs are about ten meters forward from that point, and then three meters to your left.”

  The duo clutched disjointed metal beams and wiring as they dropped the two levels to the open bulkhead. Harris entered first, checking the hallway beyond.

  “Doors are shut and locked.”

  “Nothing my Fox won’t break through,” said Tawn.

  Harris replied, “We do this and they’ll know we’re coming.”

  Tawn smiled. “I’m counting on it.”

  Harris stepped back. Two blasts from the Fox-40 blew the lock away and the door flung open. The sudden rush of air slammed the slug back into the wall behind her.

  Harris laughed. “Saw that coming.”

  Tawn scowled. “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “Two years out and you forget all your training already?”

  Tawn hesitated. “Yeah, I guess that about sums it up. Wanna go first?”

  Harris stepped forward. “Heck yeah.”

  The two flights of stairs were traversed in seconds.

  Trish said, “Still no movement of the bios.”

  Harris pushed Tawn away. “Step back. I’ll handle this one.”

  The slug took two steps back down the stairs. Harris Gruberg unleashed two rounds from his pistol. The hinges on the right side of the door gave way, sending a fierce gush of air down the stairs, almost relieving Tawn of her footing.

  Again Tawn scowled. “You did that on purpose.”

  Harris smirked. “Not the first time either. Had a squad partner that used to do that to me. Been waiting for years to use it on someone else.”

  Tawn moved up the steps in front of her partner. “Hope you’re proud of yourself.”

  Harris nodded. “I kind of am, actually.”

  The Biomarine slug moved slowly down the hall, quickly poking her head around the corner and pulling it back. No weapons fire came her way.

&nbs
p; “Looks like they’re unconscious.”

  The partners walked around the corner at the same time.

  Tawn shook her head. “This one’s a goner. Collect the other and let’s get back.”

  Trish came over the comm. “You might want to hurry. I’m seeing a building heat signature three decks below. If that’s a reactor it might be about to go critical.”

  Harris said, “Move that docking tube down to the deck we came through on. We’ll be coming out there.”

  Harris picked up the unconscious survivor, throwing him over his shoulder.

  Trish said, “You might want to hurry! Temp is rising fast!”

  Harris followed Tawn through the hall and down the stairs. After squeezing through the open bulkhead seam, the two Biomarines sprinted to the other end of the docking tube.

  As the airlock door shut and sealed, Tawn yelled, “Go, go, go!”

  The Bangor moved hard away as the tube retracted. Seconds later, the bright flash of a fusion reactor exploding rocked the heavily armored ship.

  Harris laid the unconscious soldier on the deck. “Trish, take us to Fireburg. We’ll have the colonel’s team look him over.”

  On the surface, Harris carried the captive into a medical care facility inside the dome. Several hours later, the man awakened.

  Harris and Tawn stood on either side of his bed. Restraints held him securely in place.

  “Who do you work for?” Harris asked.

  The man remained silent.

  Tawn leaned in. “You do realize that things are gonna get very nasty and very painful for you, right? You can either cooperate or suffer. You killed a number of our friends out there with that raid. And your mission failed. That cargo is being unloaded as we speak.”

  Harris leaned in equally as close. “Look, you may not realize it, but we’re on your side. This titanium is meant to go to New Earth. First thing we have to do though is get it out of the ground. And I say it’s going to New Earth because there’s no market for it on Domicile. They have all they need.”

  The man replied in a weak voice “You expect me to believe that? You’re Biomarines. You’re part of the Domicile military.”

  Tawn shook her head. “Were part of the Domicile military. When the truce was declared we were put out on the streets. We’re out here just trying to make a living like everyone else. And if we can pull this off we’ll end up some of the wealthiest people on Domicile. And wealth has its power and its privileges.”

  Harris repeated the question: “Who do you work for? We need to talk to them to let our plans be known. Attacks like this only serve to slow us down. You want titanium for New Earth, you need to give us some answers.”

  The man scowled. “So it’s true… the Biomarines are sellouts. I’m not from New Earth. I’m from Post London. Those ships and the men who crewed them are Domers… former military. We’re out here to stop you from restarting this war. You sell titanium to the Earthers and they rebuild. Is that what you Bios want? A return to war?”

  Tawn rolled her eyes. “We aren’t selling anything to the Earthers. That was a ploy to get you to talk to us. We’re all on the same side here. No one wants war.”

  The man smirked. “Just as I thought. Domers out here trying to steal all the titanium. Your poor attempt at a psychological trick backfired. We know who you are and we know what you’re doing out here. It won’t work. That titanium belongs to us.”

  Harris gave a confused look. “What? So are you an Earther or a Domer?”

  The man spit on the front of Harris’ suit. “Earther, you moron. Looks like you slugs and stumps are just as dumb as we were told. Now I know firsthand.”

  Harris moved out into the hall, waving Tawn to follow. “What just happened in there?”

  Tawn frowned. “He made us look like idiots is what happened. He turned our little set of lies against us, getting us to reveal our true intentions. He’s an Earther. That raid was meant to destroy our equipment.”

  Harris growled. “So I guess we are that dumb.”

  Tawn laughed. “You maybe. For me I’ll stick with the notion that I wasn’t trained for interrogation—maybe for resisting, but not administering it. Probably should have had a couple of our intel guys running the show in there.”

  Harris replied, “Well, we did at least learn who he’s aligned with. I’d still like to know who he specifically works for. I could see Rumford providing the Earthers with information on our normal trade corridors.”

  Tawn scratched her right ear. “This means we’re gonna have to take on escort duty. This won’t be their only attempt at disrupting our progress.”

  Harris frowned. “The Bangor is our only armed ship, and I don’t trust letting anyone else pilot her into a fight.”

  Tawn shrugged. “Not like we’re overly busy anyway. The colonel has the personnel issues under his leadership, and we have the efforts and guidance of Bannis Morgan on the other resources. We spend most of our time just observing.”

  Harris glanced back at the medical room where the captive lay. “We’ll have to run out to meet that ship twice a day.”

  Tawn slapped him on the shoulder. “You worried it might cut into your lunchtime?”

  Harris returned an uneasy look. “More worried they’ll return with more powerful ships next time. And we can’t report any of this to the pacies as they’ll question how we were able to fight them off.”

  Tawn took a step back toward the room.

  Harris asked, “Where you going?”

  Tawn smiled. “He still hasn’t told us who he works for. I’d like to know. And he’s gonna tell me.”

  A heavy press on a cracked rib brought about a shudder of pain. “You know I could do this all day. I kind of like the little noises you keep making. They somehow make me feel happy.”

  The man held up his other hand in surrender. “OK. I’ll tell you what you want.”

  “First, what’s your name? And then, who do you work for?”

  “Niles Johavsky. And we’re on the same side. I work for the DDI. They want to make sure the titanium never gets mined.”

  Tawn nodded. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Who do you work for in the DDI?”

  Niles laughed. “You people are so gullible. I don’t work for the DDI. I’m an Earther through and through.”

  Five minutes later, Tawn Freely had her real answer. A retired new Earth colonel was overseeing an operation aimed at slowing or stopping all Domer development on Eden. His job was to get the titanium resources New Earth required. His budget and resources were coming through a half dozen NE corporations—all government owned, but providing a layer of deniability.

  Tawn lifted her hand from the area of the cracked rib in the man’s chest. “Tell us what you know about Baxter Rumford.”

  “Who?”

  Tawn applied pressure. The man yelped.

  “Baxter Rumford. Tell us what you know.”

  The man drew in a slow, painful breath. “All I know is she’s working to bring that mine online. It’s deep, with substantial deposits. We may not need the ore from your mine.”

  Harris scowled. “We let one slip through and it happens to be a good one. Looks like we’ll need to do a little stopping of our own. We can’t let her deliver ore to New Earth.”

  Tawn looked over at Harris. “I’d say we milked him for everything he’s gonna tell us. Might be good to pass this all along to the colonel. Let the pros handle it.”

  Harris nodded. “I have a better idea. We pass this along to the colonel and then we have lunch. I’m starved.”

  Tawn shook her head. “You, sir, are a bottomless pit.”

  Harris asked as they walked toward the door. “You saying you aren’t hungry?”

  Tawn half smiled. “No. Just that you’re a bottomless pit.”

  Chapter 8

  _______________________

  Harris feasted on his favorite… barbecue bogler ribs. A special flight had been made out to Farmingdale, where packed, dried meat was exchan
ged for various items required for wilderness living. A special package was sent by Harris and Tawn, containing two Fox-40s and a case of plasma charges for the colony to make use of. The weapons were welcomed.

  As they sat to eat, a rumble could be heard and felt coming through the cafeteria.

  Harris stood. “That didn’t sound good.”

  One of the colonel’s aides ran in. “It’s the wellhead! Someone blew it up!”

  Tawn said, “Gonna take us a week to get a new one that size. Those are build-to-order back on Domicile. That, or we go pull one from one of the wells at the other sites.”

  Harris shook his head. “Can’t do that. We shut down those wells and the pacies come in and declare the claim void.”

  “What’s to stop them from blowing those up?”

  “Don’t know. Maybe they think it would leave evidence it was purposefully done? We could contest any attempt to pull the claim from that.”

  “What’s to stop them from stealing a wellhead then?”

  “The two Biomarines we have stationed at each one.”

  Tawn sighed. “I guess we have a trip to make to Domicile. Have to get one ordered. Figures this would happen the day before we were set to break ground.”

  Harris and Tawn walked to the well house. The colonel was standing just outside. The noontime Eden heat beat down on the threesome.

  Harris asked, “Someone got inside?”

  The colonel nodded. “Looks that way. I’d say we have a spy or a traitor in our ranks.”

  “We should have video footage from the dome cameras of who’s been in and out of there.”

  “I have my team looking those recordings over right now.”

  Harris glanced down at the reddening flesh of his arm. “Don’t stay out here to long, Colonel. That sun will cook you alive.”

  The Bangor was called up. Trish and Gandy landed in the docking bay after being on patrol at the normal jump point for the freighter.

  Harris stepped up into the cabin. “Take us home. We have to order a new wellhead.”

  “We heard,” said Gandy. “They have any idea who did this?”