Harris said, “Don’t know why you’re accusing us. We’re just sitting here in the cafeteria about to have lunch.”
Baxter shook her head. “You’re a moron. I can see you’re on your ship. I recognize that bulkhead right behind your chair. Give me my ore.”
Harris yawned as he looked intently into the camera. “How many times have you used us? How’s it feel to be taken advantage of? All that work and now someone takes away your harvest? That has to smart.”
Baxter Rumford faced away from her comm camera. “Do it. I tried.”
As the comm closed, four wormholes opened out in free space. The freighter moved into the blackness that surrounded Eden just as four Earther cruisers showed on the nav display.
Tawn said, “We have company.”
“They don’t know we’re here. I doubt they’ll destroy her. They want this ore.”
“So what do we do if they pull alongside and send over a boarding party?”
Harris smiled. “I don’t think they’ll have time before we jump. And if they jump after us, and try to dock, we can blast them from point-blank range. We’ve got this covered.”
Repeated general hails to the freighter were ignored as it headed toward free space. Two of the Earther warships closed at an angle as they continued their appeals.
Tawn said, “Calculations say they will intercept us before we can jump.”
Harris nodded. “They’ll have three and a half minutes to try to board her. I don’t see them rushing to do so before completing a few scans.”
“Uh, they do that and aren’t they gonna see us all gathered right here?”
Harris shook his head. “Not according to the DDI. Scans of this ship should reveal nothing. From the outside it will look like an empty box. Our bigger concern, should they decide to board, is that they retake control of the nav system. They do that and we have no choice but to fight. And I’d really rather not fight in this space. The politicians at home would be calling for our heads.”
The two cruisers pulled alongside the fleeing freighter. The Bangor remained undetected, its signal emissions inhibited and its exterior skin colored to match the exterior of the ship to which it clung.
Tawn said, “They’re moving in for a dock.”
The Biomarine squad leader stood. “If you open that hatch, I still have a comm-link to the controls. I could put her in a random zigzag pattern that will make it harder for them to connect.”
Harris frowned. “We open that hatch and they know we’re here. I’d rather not do that until we have to.”
“One minute to jump,” said Tawn. “If they attach, that jump wormhole won’t open.”
Harris scowled. “I need a volunteer to go aboard. If the Earthers manage to dump a team on there, we’ll need someone to disable the safeties on that ship reactor. We get that to go critical and we might be able to take the docked cruiser with it. Could be a one-way ticket for whoever accepts.”
The squad leader replied, “You open that hatch for one of us and we’re all going over. Whoever draws the straw to disable the safeties will need cover if they’re going to pull it off.”
Tawn said, “Thirty seconds.”
Harris rubbed his forehead. “Lieutenant, take your men, prepare to storm aboard. Tawn, when they’re across, close that airlock and retract that tube. We’ll only have a couple seconds before we have to open up.”
As the Biomarines staged for their assault, the airlock was opened. Seven seconds later the opposite airlock closed, followed by that of the Bangor. The transfer tube retracted, and the small ship lifted off from the hull.
Tawn said, “Railgun is online!”
“Let’s rip ‘em open!”
Tawn fired and the hum of tungsten rounds exiting the rails was followed by the starboard side of the cruiser caving in on two decks. The Earther ship quickly dropped back, allowing the Bangor to spin up and over the freighter as the second Earther warship withdrew its docking tube. A wormhole opened and the freighter slipped through.
Tawn again squeezed the trigger for the autofeeders of the twin railguns. A steady stream of tungsten ripped into the cruiser’s hull as it too powered back, instantly withdrawing from range.
Harris said, “Time for a jump. Wish we hadn’t had to do that.”
“Seems to have accomplished what we wanted.”
Harris shook his head. “We just attacked two Earther warships after stealing a freighter that belongs to them. Both lived to talk, and worst of all, it happened in Eden space. Another fifteen seconds and we’d have gotten away, at least to somewhere that was not here. This will get back to Domicile and the media will have a frenzy with it. We may not be going home after this.”
Tawn said, “We could go back and finish them off?”
Harris scowled. “Wish we could. We’d be lucky to get close enough to take a shot now. And I’m sure they’ve already had comms with those other ships. We may have just flooded Eden space with Earther ships.”
“Still, they can’t attack our colony. There’s no evidence that the people at our colony were responsible.”
Harris set the coordinates for a wormhole jump. “No, but they got a good close-up look at us. We’ve been in and out of all the ports in our territory. Everyone knows what this ship looks like and who it belongs to. I’m thinking this caper may not have been worth the cost.”
The Bangor slipped through a wormhole, following the freighter’s supposed path. The ship they pursued showed on the nav display.
Tawn said, “It’s not moving.”
Harris opened a comm. The lieutenant yelled, “We could use some help over here. They have us pinned aft. We never got to the reactor and they now have control of the bridge. I expect they’ll be turning us back any moment.”
Harris replied, “Be there in a sec. Can you get to an airlock?”
“Port side. Deck three. Airlock B.”
Harris nodded. “Give us thirty seconds, then make your move. We’ll be there.”
The lieutenant said, “We have two down. Hurt bad.”
Tawn stood. “I’ll pull the med-kit.”
As Harris pulled the Bangor alongside, a wormhole began to form in front of the freighter. Harris moved to weapons control. A quick maneuver saw a tungsten round ripping through the forward decks of the massive ore hauler.
The lieutenant yelled, “We just lost pressure in here! Tell me that was you!”
Harris replied, “Had to, they had a portal opening. Move to the airlock. I’m docking now.”
The airlock on the Bangor opened to a rush of air and the Biomarines carried their injured through to the open cabin. Tawn opened the med-kit as the lieutenant and his squad got to work on the casualties.
Harris looked over his shoulder. “The Earthers still in control?”
The lieutenant nodded. “Of all decks but the third.”
“No chance of taking her back?”
The lieutenant shook his head. “Probably a hundred Marines stormed aboard when they connected. Too many for us to stop without some planning. We took down a dozen or so before they pinned us in.”
Harris looked over the image of the damaged freighter on his display. “No way to take control over the comms?”
“They have it blocked out.”
Harris opened a general comm. “Talk to me.”
A voice came back. “You’ve violated property of the New Earth Empire. You—”
Harris cut the voice off: “Skip the rhetoric. I’m trying to figure out how we can work this out so you live. You have an issue with that?”
The voice replied, “You can leave us here. Our ships will come looking for us.”
Harris scowled. “Not leaving you with that titanium. I may be able to transport you to one of the truce colonies. You’d have to disarm, and it would take a half-dozen trips.”
Tawn looked up. “We don’t have that kind of time. Earther ships could be coming this way any moment. They know where we jumped to.”
“I was hop
ing to get that one extra hop in before that happened.”
The voice came back: “We will not be leaving this cargo. It belongs to us.”
Harris frowned. “You aren’t leaving me much of a choice.”
Five wormholes opened where the freighter had initially jumped through. Harris checked the nav display. All five signatures were Earther warships.
Harris flipped the railgun feed to auto and squeezed the trigger. “I did try.”
Hypervelocity tungsten rounds cut through the freighter’s superstructure. The ship shattered from stem to stern. White titanium ore spread out in a cloud, illuminated by a nearby star, as the ship to broke apart. Harris maneuvered the Bangor around the burning and exploding remains as the railgun continued to do its work.
A diversion toward the incoming ship had Tawn standing. “What are you doing? We can’t fight those.”
Harris pressed a button on his console. A wormhole opened and the Bangor passed through. As it closed behind them, the threat of the New Earth warships was gone.
Tawn asked, “These men need care. That Domicile?”
“Yes. They’ll get the best care here. We can swing by to fill Trish and Gandy in on what’s happened.”
“You think it’s safe to go there?”
Harris nodded. “Will take the Earthers a day or two to file a complaint. They’ll want to get all the facts in order so they can steer any negotiations in their favor. I just hope we can talk to the admiral while we’re here. He might have some suggestions as to how we should proceed.”
The Zwicker class freight shuttle moved through Domicile space and down through the atmosphere. The injured were dropped at a medical facility, along with the remainder of the lieutenant’s squad.
Chapter 17
_______________________
Harris sat on a crate, rubbing the back of his neck as Trish and Gandy came over. “We messed up. Not sure we can go back to Eden.”
Gandy asked, “What happened?”
“We stole Baxter Rumford’s freighter,” said Tawn. “We got chased and had to fire on two cruisers. We managed to destroy the freighter and scatter the titanium, but not before revealing ourselves. Bax knows it was us.”
“So what do we do now?”
Harris shrugged. “We don’t know. Depends if the Earthers protest or not. If they do, Tawn and I would most certainly be placed under arrest pending an investigation. And I’m pretty sure we are guilty. And if I remember, piracy brings a penalty of death if anyone involved is killed. And we had to smoke just over a hundred Earthers when we destroyed the freighter.”
Gandy winced. “That is a mess.”
Tawn said, “We just wanted to inform the two of you. If we have to disappear, it’s because of this. We’d like you to continue your work here and supply the colonel with as many ships as you can. Gandy, I’m transferring half of my wealth to you. Not to keep, but to use as needed for your efforts here. And I guess to pay yourself from. I think I owe you for the last month anyway.”
Harris looked at Trish. “I guess I should do the same. And I’d tell you to just keep it if something bad happens to me, but I wouldn’t want to give you the incentive to act on that yourself.”
Trish returned a sarcastic smile. “Har, har. Not like I’d need credits to want to do that. And don’t worry, my friends and I will be careful with it.”
Bannis Morgan entered the warehouse. Harris waved him over.
“Well, Mr. Morgan I’m afraid we screwed things up. We stole Rumford’s freighter full of titanium and had to shoot two Earther cruisers that tried to stop us. We had to destroy the freighter as a result. Not sure we’ll be able to go back to Eden. They’ll be looking for the Bangor.”
Bannis replied, “Can’t you just get another ship? Did they see your face?”
Harris shook his head. “Saw it and heard my voice, even though the comm was through a filter, but they knew it was me anyway.”
“They think it was you is what you mean. They’ll meet with our ambassador, but they won’t give your name without proof. They would rather have you come back out there where they can capture you. At least that’s what I would do.”
Harris rubbed his chin. “Interesting. OK. Hadn’t thought about that.”
Bannis said, “We just need to find a secure place to store the Bangor. I can lease a shuttle for you if you need it.”
Tawn replied, “We can have Gandy do that for us. No need to include you further.”
Bannis nodded. “That works too. When do you expect to have your first shipment of titanium plates ready?”
Harris sighed. “Not for another week. I know you’re waiting on those for your freighter fleet.”
“A week is no hardship for us. You expecting trouble getting it off Eden?”
Harris frowned. “I am now. I wish we could have delayed until that time, but the Rumford ship was almost full. We had to make our move or risk missing it altogether.”
“Any luck on convincing the pacifists to move to Jebwa?”
“So far they aren’t budging. That colony is primed and waiting. It really is a step up for them, but they’re being stubborn. They somehow think the rest of us are just gonna go away.”
Bannis slowly pulled himself up to sit on a crate. “They need an enticement.”
Harris chuckled. “They’re almost out of water. We offered to move them. And we offered six months of MREs to supplement their food needs.”
Bannis thought for a moment. “Would Mr. Romero be able to open a citizen recruiting center for them here? They are always looking for new blood. Might be something to give them that final kick to get up and move. If they impose taxes like we’re expecting them to do, we’re sunk as an entity. We can’t support a mine that can’t break even. My investors will be wanting money back at some point.”
Harris let out a long breath. “We can try. If the skies over Eden are filled with warships, as I suspect they are, they might be ready to move anyway.”
Tawn said, “What we need is somebody on the inside of the pacifist movement here on Domicile to go out there. You wouldn’t happen to know of anyone would you, Mr. Morgan?”
Harris sat up from his crate. “Miss Freely, may I speak with you outside for a moment?”
Tawn followed her partner to the doorway. “What you got rolling around in that hollow space up there?”
“I wonder if the admiral would be able to provide us with a reputable pacifist, someone in our government who he has planted for such an operation, or someone he just owns.”
Tawn chuckled. “Why don’t you just ask him?”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
Tawn pointed. “The Bangor is bugged. Whatever you say, he will hear. I’m sure he knows all about our raid already.”
Harris’ comm chimed with an incoming request. “Yes?”
The admiral replied, “I can fulfill your request. I can’t guarantee results, but I can have a respected government official out to Eden tomorrow. Today if you need him there.”
Harris nodded. “Today would be great if that’s workable. And how’d you know what we were talking about just now?”
“I know because I’m the DDI. Just remember, if you need anything at all to help complete this mission, just ask. I may not respond, and you may not get what you’re asking for, but I will get your message.”
Tawn grabbed Harris’ arm. “Somebody is on the Bangor!”
The admiral said, “Pay him no attention. He works for me. It seems our devices on your ship have several instances where nothing was recorded. Just hours and hours of blank. What can you tell me about that?”
Harris shook his head. “We don’t have anything to do with whatever you put on there. We just fly the ship. When did this happen?”
The admiral was quiet for several seconds. “I suspect you know when, and I’ll leave it at that.”
A second voice could be heard over the admiral’s comm.
The admiral said, “Business calls. I’ll have to
catch up with the two of you later. I look forward to that first shipment of plates coming in next week.”
The comm closed.
Tawn took off her comm, laying it on the ground and gesturing for Harris to do the same. The pair walked a short distance from the devices.
“So our comms are tapped.”
Harris shrugged. “So? Not like he doesn’t know everything already.”
Tawn shook her head. “He doesn’t know about Midelon. He knows we’re going there, but he has no clue as to what’s actually there.”
“And how would he know we’ve been going there? He just said the recordings from his bugs were blank.”
Tawn frowned. “You are dense, aren’t you. He’s been listening to our conversations over these comms. You don’t think we’ve mentioned going out there to each other just before going out there? He may not know what’s there, but he definitely knows we can go there.”
Harris rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess that didn’t occur to me. Maybe we need a code word for it instead of just saying Midelon.”
Tawn chuckled. “Like he couldn’t figure out what we were talking about? No. We have to be super-vigilant about this. No mention of it ever when we’re near that ship or a comm. And we need to tell Trish and Gandy the same. We don’t talk anything about it unless we have to. Come on.”
Tawn walked back into the warehouse, gesturing for Trish and Gandy to remove their comms and to follow her outside. New instructions were given, ensuring the secrets of Midelon would not be further revealed. The group returned to a waiting Bannis Morgan.
Harris said, “Mr. Morgan, I think for your own protection, at least until we know how this Eden thing is gonna shake out, you should stay away from this warehouse and from us. If there are needs, you can contact Colonel Thomas at Fireburg, or we’ll have him contact you. There are too many people who know of our efforts out there, and your continued help is critical to our success, so we need to have some separation, for your own protection.”
Bannis Morgan waved his hand. “You don’t have to worry about me. I still have friends in high places who owe me. And my security team can hold their own. We know someone has been attempting to bug our offices and transports, but they’ve failed in doing so. My sweep teams are thorough.”
ARMS Harris' Revenge Page 16
