by Tony Healey
"Yes."
"I don't know if you've read Captain King's report on what happened when the Defiant fought them?"
"I have, in fact. It was quite a battle, if memory serves."
Chang pictured Commander Greene and her heart sank. "There were a lot of losses."
"Regrettable."
"Yes, and in many cases avoidable. I've been giving thought to what might happen if they engage the Intrepid. I don't want to be caught unawares. The Defiant had to stand her own against one ship. We may have to face hundreds. Those are odds I don't care to consider."
Chief Kolvin cocked one bushy white eyebrow. "What is it you want to ask me, Captain?"
"If we have to find them, and have no choice but to fight, I want to have a plan in place to disable the Amarax, if not destroy it."
Kolvin considered. He ran a hand over his bald, bobbly scalp. "The sheer size of the vessel . . . I do not know how we would accomplish it, Captain. We could fire everything we have at it and I doubt there would be any effect. It would be tantamount to throwing a rock at a moon."
"My plan will involve destroying it from the inside, Chief."
He laughed a little. "I'm sorry, I do not follow."
"Well, you see, when the Amarax launches its fighters and ships, it extends into three separate cylinders. This leaves its innards open to attack."
"I don't understand why they would incorporate such a design flaw."
"Remember, the Namar saw the Amarax as a home for their sleeping saviours. We consider it a mobile battle station. But for them, it is so much more than that."
"The concept isn't new," Chief Kolvin said. "The O'Neill Cylinder dates back to the earliest days of Terran space flight. Unfortunately, you humans never had the resources to construct one on your own. And of course, by the time you had the capabilities to mine the gas giants for their precious elements, first contact with the Hakim had already been made."
"You know a lot of Terran history."
The Chief shrugged. "I consider myself widely read."
"I'll make a mental note of that for future reference. So, my thinking is that we will get in close with a fighter, and fire directly into the innards. Targeted correctly, using the data we compiled when we were aboard, we should be able to disable it long enough to get them to back down," Chang told him.
"I see."
"I want you to rig several warheads into one, Chief. We will probably get one shot, and if we're in that position, I want it to count. It needs to pack a massive punch. And this project needs to remain a secret. It is entirely against protocol given the risks involved. I, of course, will take full blame if something goes wrong."
"Of course I'll take the proper precautions, but there is always the tiniest fraction of risk involved in tampering with warheads, as you are more than aware. So to be clear, Captain, you want me to make you a retro-fitted torpedo?"
Chang shook her head. "No. Different to that." She smiled. "Chief . . . are you familiar with something called a 'sticky bomb?'"
* * *
Lieutenant-Commander Kyle Banks felt the deck shudder under his feet as the Intrepid courted another patch of charged particles, and experienced the same trepidation he had since they'd entered the Cluster. Even with their energy shields at maximum strength, the effect of the Chimera Cluster remained strong enough to make the ship literally shake along its axis.
"Shields holding?" he asked from the Captain's chair.
Dr. Gentry looked up from his station. "For the ninth time, the shields are fine. Which is more than can be said for your nerves, Lieutenant-Commander."
He did not reprimand the doctor; how could he when the man had a valid point? "It's different being at the helm when it's like that," Banks said.
"It is akin to turbulence, nothing more."
Alright for you to say, you old quack, Banks thought.
Ensign Alanna Gordon peered back over her shoulder. "I get what you're saying, sir. Down here you feel the vibration in your fingertips. It seems to resonate in the helm, makes the experience of piloting the Intrepid a tactile one. I know I sound foolish saying this, but I actually kind of like it."
"Perhaps we should swap positions," Banks mumbled.
Ensign Gordon shook her head. "Not for all the tea in China, sir. I'll take the helm over a command position any day."
I'm starting to wonder if I wouldn't mind my old job back.
"Doc, anything coming up we should know about?"
"Not on my scanners, no. The Lieutenant may be better equipped in this regard."
Dana Oriz shook her head, eyes still on the star chart before her. "Nothing on here, sir. The Manhattan did a pretty fair job of mapping what they could. We have quite a good idea of when we're about to hit something. But there's nothing like that, on here at least, for a while yet. Just endless nebula."
"Keep monitoring," Banks told her. He turned back to Gentry. "Any sign of Namar activity?"
"Nothing thus far."
This was what he didn't like. It's all a waiting game. We coast through, looking for a sign that may not come. Treading water until we can do something constructive.
Captain Chang strode on to the bridge. "Anything to report?"
"Not yet," Banks relinquished the Captain's chair and took his seat at the tactical station. "Where's the Chief? Engineering?"
"I'll tell you later," Chang said, wearing a strange expression. "He's currently preoccupied with something."
"Understood. So what do we do? Fly about aimlessly and hope we strike gold? The Cluster is pretty big, Captain."
"I had a thought about that."
"Oh?"
"Yes. It's time we went about this systematically. In both senses of the word. Dana, lay in a course for every known star system in the Cluster."
Dana's fingers raced over the controls to the navigational systems. "Working on it. The course does not differ radically from the one we are following at present."
It appeared on the forward viewscreen. Chang studied it for a moment. Dana was right – it wasn't all that different. "Do it. Helm, alter course to acommodate."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"What's the plan?" Banks asked.
"The Namar are hiding here. It would make sense for them to find a planet or moon that they can strip the resources from, if necessary. Doctor Gentry, would you agree that is a fair assumption to make?"
"I would, and for the record, I wholly back your plan. A scientific, methodical approach is best."
Chang looked surprised. "Well, there's a first for everything . . ."
The Intrepid altered heading, hardly enough to notice. "New course accepted," Ensign Gordon reported.
"Excellent. How long until we arrive at the first system?"
"One hour, ten minutes," Dana said.
"So we'll go from one to the other, see if they're hiding out," Banks said. "It's sound. Surely we'll have more luck that way than just heading in a random direction and crossing our fingers and toes."
Chang looked ahead. She thought of the wild goose chase they'd been consigned to pursue. Gentry was right – a methodical approach. One system at a time, slowly working their way through the Cluster until they eliminated each one. Hopefully until they zeroed in on Cessqa. "Well, without an ion trail or a Jump vector to follow, this mission is going to be like finding a toothpick in a haystack. And I don't think we have a whole lot of time."
4.
"Here we are," Ardai said. He looked up from the Captain's chair as Jessica came around to the front. "Welcome to Amity! Despite what the word means, I don't think we'll find many friends here."
"The first time I've seen an asteroid with an atmosphere," Jessica said.
The Spectre slowed to a relative halt from exiting the Jump, its cloaking device now fully activated. "Welcome to Amity," Kalar announced, his tentacles pulling levers, sliding switches, keeping the Spectre in place. The technology that rendered the entire ship invisible to both sight and sensors proved such a drain on energy re
sources that it could only be used before or after a Jump. To do both would require two reactors, and the Spectre was barely large enough to house one.
The potato shaped asteroid was smoother than most, as large as a moon, and covered in craters. A hazy atmosphere clung to its surface as it rotated, in orbit of a deep green gas giant. At one end, a city shone like a cluster of diamonds. Small, square structures and tall skyscrapers stretched up into the haze. The remaining surface appeared to be devoid of inhabitants.
"A reactor at the core of the rock powers a containment field, holding the atmosphere in place. Even with regulated gravity and a steady orbit, it would soon lose what air it had if the containment field wasn't in place," Ardai explained. "The city itself isn't just the property of Matz but a conglomerate – for lack of a better word – of gangster types. It's a haven for them."
"You know a lot about it."
He shrugged. "It's our job, Jess. These types of things are getting more and more common, believe it or not. The criminal underworld loves them because, let's be honest, who gives a damn about this nameless lump of rock orbiting this inhospitable planet? I've known them to burrow inside an asteroid, which is pretty cool. Or float in the upper atmosphere of a gas giant. One, on Castillion VI, was attached beneath the icy crust of the planet to hide it."
"The galaxy is full of rocks and such," Jessica admitted. "It's easy to get lost. I mean, look at us hiding from the Union at an old Union colony. In this case, I don't think I've ever even heard of this system."
"I'm not surprised. There's thousands of systems just like this. A weak sun, surrounded by gas giants, asteroids, nothing of value. They're more common than small change."
Kalar turned around. "When the Union surveyed these systems in the early days, they marked the ones that had something to offer, and simply catalogued the others."
"So the containment field," Jessica paced slowly as she spoke. "Will we be detected when we cross it?"
Ardai nodded. "Yes. They'll register that something passed through the field. Then they can triangulate our location, which wouldn't be good. But I have a way around that."
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "Yes?"
Ardai spoke into the comm. "Punk, get up here."
A moment the later the Alpor walked onto the bridge. "It time?"
"Sure is."
"Kay, you ready?"
The Xantian turned back to the helm. "Just give the word."
"Okey dokey," Punk said working the controls of one of the stations. His paws flew back and forth so quickly Jessica found it hard to keep up.
"You see, hacking is speciality of his," Ardai whispered.
"Hacking?"
The Alpor looked up. "Do you wanna give the word, mate?"
"You've got it. Shut 'em down, Punk."
Jessica wasn't sure what to expect – the issue of the containment field had never been mentioned when she and Will were planning the operation.
The asteroid looked completely normal at first. But then she saw the lights go out in the city, one at a time, like candles being snuffed out with a strong breath.
"Take us down, Kay!" Ardai ordered. The Spectre lurched forward, its engines roaring. The Xantian took the ship toward the asteroid, aimed for a crater just outside the darkened city. Closer to the surface, the gas giant truly dominated the sky, its green glow spilled out across the rocky face. Kalar took them about in a circle, getting rid of excess speed, using the asteroid's artificial atmosphere to help the braking process. He brought the Spectre to a level hover and slowly lowered them down into the crater.
"Okay, Punk, give them their power back."
"That's what you did," Jessica said. "Hacked their power network. But what about the atmosphere? What stopped it floating away?"
"A small percentage of it already has," Kalar chimed in from the helm. "Nothing their atmospheric compensation units won't be able to handle." A sharp jolt ran through the Spectre as it settled on the ground, and Kalar shut off her engines and thrusters.
"They have power," Punk said. "While I was at it, with their power grid down, I took the liberty of hacking their security systems. We can shut it all down the moment we decide to make a move."
"Good work. Carry on with what you were doing, I'll give the word when it's time to go," Will said.
Punk left the bridge. Jessica smiled. "That was well played. I wonder what other tricks you have up your sleeve."
He winked at her. "You'll just have to wait and see. We've still got to get from here to the city, and from there, locate the building they're holding Shaw at and break in. This is the easy part. What follows . . . that's gonna be tricky."
5.
Barbie descended the ramp first, followed by Will, then Punk. Kalar remained aboard the Spectre, as usual. His own part in their plan relied upon him being able to fly the Spectre away from Amity the moment they were aboard.
Hawk stood next to Jessica, rifle in hand. She looked at him, noticed the kataan in its holder.
"Going fencing?"
He looked as if he were about to ask just what she was talking about, then he looked down and smiled. "Well, ya know. Might have a couple of watermelons need slicin' or somethin'."
"Let's hope you don't have to use it," Jessica said, heading down the ramp.
Meryl Gunn looked strange carrying not just one, but two firearms. "Is that all you're taking, Hawk?" She stomped down the ramp behind Jessica.
Hawk watched her go, regarded his rifle as if it suddenly were no longer adequate. "Hey, uh, is this not enough?"
"We all set?" Will asked at the bottom. Looking back at the Spectre, there was only the inside of the ramp, and the exit like a gaping hole in the side of the ship. The rest remained invisible, completely see-through thanks to the cloaking technology. "Damn if it doesn't look like you just walked out of the fourth dimension."
"Very funny," Jessica said.
Once Hawk was down, Ardai spoke into his wrist unit. The ramp retracted back inside and the Spectre literally disappeared in front of their eyes.
Jessica looked about. Aside from the haze, it was hard to tell that there was a breathable atmosphere on the asteroid. It carried a slight greenish tinge from the overbearing gas giant it orbited but, apart from that, was invisible as the Spectre. She took a deep breath of it – cold and slightly metallic – but definitely breathable. It was a strange feeling, being able to breathe in what appeared to be an airless vacuum. Especially without a suit.
"Right. We all know the plan," Ardai said. "Meryl, you're with Barbie. Punk, you're with Hawk. Get into your positions and wait for my signal. And try not to get shot."
Barbie cocked her head to one side. "I'm not so sure it's a good idea going in there the way you are."
"What?" Will asked, confused. "We went over this again and–"
"I mean, with just that little pistol of yours," Barbie said.
Meryl elbowed the Mantipor in the ribs. "Are you saying he's only got a little shooter?"
It took Barbie a moment to catch up, but then she was laughing, a deep hearty bellow. "Very good!"
"Bunch of jokers . . ." Will said, shaking his head as he turned to face Jessica and found her laughing along with them. "You too?"
"I'm sorry. Even I have brought a bigger gun than you."
"Listen, it's not the size that matters. This pistol looks small, but trust me when it goes off you won't believe it."
That started Meryl off again. "Yeah. I'll bet!"
Jessica shook her head. "Are you sure you can handle those two, Meryl? One in each hand?"
"You doubt I could manage two at once?"
Jessica held up a hand. "Come on, let's stop this before it gets out of hand. Just assure me you won't end up shooting your own feet off or something."
To illustrate the fact that she was more than adept, Meryl whipped them both out of their holsters, spun them on her fingers, their barrels flashing brightly, then re-holstered them like a pro. "Fears put to rest?"
"I
guess."
"Girl's a goddamn gunslinger!" Hawk said.
It was nice to see Meryl's spirits up. Since Del died, she'd alternated between what appeared to be depression, and hollow amusement. She would laugh sometimes, and it seemed to Jessica's ears like the imitation of a laugh. Put upon, just a sound that came from the throat and not the heart. She couldn't blame her. She'd suffered a loss and, really, hadn't had any time to get over it.
Neither did I when my Father died.
Will headed off abruptly, putting an end to the humour. "Let's move. Everyone, get to your positions and wait. I'd like to get Rick out of there before he's a goddamn cadaver."
"Good luck everyone," Jessica said, catching up with him.
Will stopped at the rise over the crater and helped her up the last of it. "Sorry if I snapped then. I just want to get this done."
"Don't sweat it. I know what you mean."
He turned his gaze to the edge of the city. Already the sounds of people filtered through on the air. "I'm just glad you had all those civilian clothes sitting there at the colony. We should fit right in."
"Are you implying we look like criminals?"
"Hey, only one of us is a genuine certified criminal, remember?"
She shrugged. "Can't argue with you there."
Will looked down at himself. "Admittedly, we're several decades out of date."
"I don't even know what it feels like to wear anything but a uniform anymore."
"Sad."
Jessica shrugged.
Will looked ahead, his eyes filled with the green of the gas giant, the lights and flashing neons of the city, and the black star-studded sky. "Come on. Let's do this."
6.
"That ought to do it," Chief Kolvin stepped back from the torpedo to admire his handiwork. It certainly wasn't a thing of beauty, but would pack quite a wallop when it went off, that was for certain. The warheads of six Rasa torpedos squashed inside a standard probe housing. It was a wonder he managed to fit it all in.
"I still do not understand its purpose," Chip said in his flat voice.
"Isn't it obvious, Chip?"
