The Silver Liner: Takes Flight!

by Daniel Sullivan

  Kendrick’s actual destination was Phoenix Station, which was in Mars’ northern polar region, far away from Columbia Memorial. If he could get in and out of Columbia Memorial without attracting the UPA, he could slingshot around the planet and land hopefully undetected at Phoenix. Once there, he could pick up the power couplings from Houser’s Astronautical Supply and Salvage, make the repairs and be on his way. He only hoped that the Enigma’s masers had not damaged Selene very badly.

  Kendrick also hoped that they had no further encounters with military vessels. He was a skilled pilot and Selene was fast, but the military and the UPA had measures that they could use against her. They had already proven that with the virus. Unfortunately, they also knew his destination. Kendrick had made it public prior to his being chased by the U.S. and the UPA when he challenged Fujita.

  Captain Royce dismissed the crew, but as they were filing out, Mister Nozaki asked, “Captain, may I speak with you about Selene.” Kendrick nodded, but Nozaki asked, “Privately?”

  Kendrick looked at Selene and said, “Be right back, Selene.”

  “I will be here, Captain,” she replied

  Nozaki and Kendrick went to the lounge. They were met by Mister Mun, Doctor Kinsale and Heather.

  “Party?” asked Kendrick.

  “No,” said Fiona, worry in her voice. “We have serious concerns about our … new helmsman?”

  Nozaki, Mun and Heather all nodded.

  “Okay,” Royce replied as he sat down. “Lay it on me.”

  “Sir,” said Nozaki, “That thing was floating in space. It was deactivated for some reason, we don’t know what. Even you don’t know all of the specifics. Sir, it’s an assassin. What is the likelihood that a signal could activate some hidden protocol that orders her to kill us all? We don’t even know who dumped it.”

  “Sir,” said Heather, “She scares the hell outta me. She’s stronger than any of us and probably resistant to small arms weapons, which we don’t have in any abundance on this ship. She doesn’t have to be armed to be deadly to us. Not to mention that she could take control of the ship and there ain’t a damn thing any of us could do about it, including you.”

  Kendrick looked at Mun and Fiona. “What about you two?”

  “I think Heather summed it up pretty well,” Mun replied. “Sir, I’m a skilled hand to hand combatant. I’m highly trained in hapkido, and have security and military experience. But I doubt that I could take it down if she went rogue.”

  Fiona simply nodded. “What he said.”

  “So, lemme get this straight,” Kendrick said as evenly as he could. “The only thing that’s keeping us from being either dead in the water or taking a one year plus trip to Mars is the only thing you’re suspicious of. Does that sound about right?”

  “Hai, Sir,” replied Nozaki.

  “Well, what do you suggest I do? I can’t fly the ship manually at any speed above Mach 5, which means we’re in space for over a year.” He tried not to be flippant, but he felt that they had to know that there were few options available.

  “We don’t have an answer,” said Mun. “We just wanted to air our concerns.”

  “Look,” said Kendrick, “I get your concerns. It’s crazy to just trust her, I know. But right now, we are choice-less.”

  “I hate to say it,” said Fiona, “but even though that thing may look like your late wife, sound like her and even act like her, it is not human. It’s a machine. And if it decided to get serious, I’d estimate that it could withstand your strongest blows without so much as flinching. And I’ve seen you fight, so that’s saying something.”

  “Yeah, I wasn’t plannin’ on fisticuffs,” replied Kendrick. “But like I said to Lorg, followin’ my instincts brings its own rewards. And my instinct is to trust her, just as it was to trust you, Fiona.”

  The doctor blushed slightly and looked down. The four looked at each other, then back at Kendrick. So far, he had proven resourceful at every turn and seemed to have an answer to every problem. And so far, his instincts had been good.

  “We would be dead if you had not come back for us,” said Nozaki. “Out of respect, I will trust your judgment. Thus far, it has been sound and has saved our lives. Twice.”

  The rest looked at each other. Finally, Fiona spoke. “I am with you, Kendrick, whatever you decide. Just … please be careful with her.”

  “I will,” he said. “I’m careful with everyone. Well, I wasn’t very careful with you, Fi, but you’re special. Now, if we’re done here, meeting adjourned.”

  A week went by without any incident. The crew was still nervous about Selene’s new avatar, but all had to admit that she performed her tasks flawlessly. They had taken to addressing the avatar as Selena, so as to avoid confusion with the ship in conversation. The gynoid also seemed to have a positive effect on the captain. Kendrick was more cheerful and seemed to be more attentive to his crew mates. Everyone noticed that he was also speaking with better diction. They were not sure if it was due to Selena, or due to having to actually talk to other people with good diction on a regular basis, but everyone appreciated it.

  He also began to develop a command style, something that he previously had no need for. Kendrick was not a precise military-style commander and never would be, but his style was functional and worked well with the seasoned Fujin crew. Selene had settled in as the helmsman and subordinated herself to Captain Royce in the same way as the rest of the crew. In all, things were going very smoothly. They could not have asked for more. That was when a starboard impact rocked the ship.

  “Maser fire,” announced Selena. “The energy signature matches the maser fire from the Enigma.”

  “Evasive maneuvers,” commanded Kendrick. “I’ll bet ol’ Lorg extrapolated our course and moved ahead to a position to intercept while we were picking you up.”

  “Acknowledged,” replied Selene.

  Of course the orders were more for the benefit of the crew. Selena knew instantly what Kendrick wanted of her, as they were mentally connected while he was plugged into the ship.

  “Prepare for maximum burn,” announced Captain Royce.

  “Sir, if we go to maximum burn, we will burn out the outboard engine power couplings,” stated Selena.

  Kendrick paused to consider his options as Selena continued maneuvering to avoid the Enigma’s maser fire.

  “Sir, there are objects in the space around us,” announced Selena. “Objects moving to intercept.”

  “Objects?” Kendrick did not like the sound of that. “What kind of objects?”

  “Analyzing … mines. They are keyed to a starship’s power and are attracted to the ship like a magnet. The more power we generate, the more pull they have.” She paused momentarily. “Addendum: Several of the mines have attached themselves to the ship.”

  “Incoming message, Sir,” announced Tanaka.

  “Patch it through,” replied Kendrick. “Selena, transfer helm control to my chair.”

  “Patching it through now, Sir,” said Tanaka.

  Kendrick powered down the engines, firing the retro rockets briefly along with some of the smaller belly thrusters before cutting the engines entirely. Lorgen’s image appeared on screen and his voice filled the cabin.

  “Captain Royce, we meet again.”

  It was good to actually see the face of his adversary. Lorgen was a Caucasian man with salt and pepper hair worn in a close-cropped military style. His complexion was rough, either from bad acne, tobacco use, too much time in the sun, or a combination of all three. His eyes were a steely gray and his chiseled jaw was clenched. He wore a look of smug disdain on his face.

  “Hey, Lorg,” replied Kendrick. “Fancy meetin’ you here. Whatcha want?”

  “You know damn well what I want, Royce,” growled Lorgen. “Doctor Joyce Keane, her stolen biotech, the crew of the Fujin and your sorry ass. And you can’t stop me this time. I’ve attached mines to your ship. Initiate a burn and they go off. Your ship will be perforated and your engines w
ill be shrapnel. It’s over. You killed several of my men at our last meeting. Lucky for you, I have orders to take both you and Doctor Keane alive. But I’m boarding that ship of yours. I’m taking you prisoner and then I’m going to blow your precious ship to bits.”

  “No, you’re not,” replied Kendrick nonchalantly. “If you were gonna do that, you’d just do it. You wouldn’t sit here telling me about it.”

  “Call it filling you with dread at your impending doom,” laughed Lorgen.

  “Sir, we’re dead,” said Nozaki. “What can we do?”

  Kendrick looked at Lorgen keeping very still. Nobody saw him subtly manipulating the controls at his fingertips.

  “Impending doom?” Kendrick laughed derisively at Lorgen. “I don’t need to power up to deal with you,” he continued. “Go ahead and come on over. If you think you’ve got the guts.” Kendrick then shut off the monitor and powered down all systems except life support.

  “Everyone,” he said on the internal com, “Buckle up or hang onto something. We’re losing spin gravity. Right about … now.”

  “Sir, what are you doing?” asked Selena. She was genuinely stumped.

  “You just sit back and relax,” he said calmly. “I got this.”

  “I fail to see how, but I will defer to your command,” she countered. The rest of the bridge crew just stared at him.

  “Everyone get your breathers on,” he ordered. “I’m cutting life support in 3, 2, 1.” And with that, he cut life support.

  Enigma’s helmsman, Mister Myers, was very concerned as he noticed the Selene slowly closing the distance between them and powering down. He knew Lorgen wanted revenge and Myers himself was hoping for some payback as well, but Lorgen seemed oblivious to the Selene’s change in attitude. With the wily civilian captain having proven troublesome already, he alerted Lorgen.

  “Captain, Sir!”

  “What is it?”

  “Sir, the Selene is drifting closer to us,” Myers announced. “She’s completely powered down. Not even life support.”

  “Won’t help him,” gloated Lorgen, as the marines in the air lock prepared to board Selene. “Train the lights on Selene,” he ordered, his helmsman promptly obeying. “There; the Selene is lit up like a Christmas tree with that mirrored hull. Our men will have breathers, mag boots and dark vision visors. No tricks he might come up with will get him out of this one.”

  “Are you sure about this, Sir?” Myers asked dubiously. “Royce has outsmarted the Alliance, surprised us, and has a well-earned reputation for being one of the best. I’ve checked his file, Sir. He’s the highest scoring A.A.E.A. graduate ever.”

  “No way,” exclaimed the communications officer, Mister Levin.

  “Fancy grades won’t save him,” Lorgen said dismissively. “We’ll proceed as planned.”

  “I’ve analyzed his strategy, Sir,” said Myers. “He intends to bring his vessel close enough to us so that the mines will seek out our fully powered ship!”

  “Won’t work,” countered a grinning Lorgen. “I had Kowalski program them with that contingency in mind. Once they latch on, they stop seeking out a power source. He powers up, he triggers them.”

  Myers nodded and continued as Lorgen ordered, still not trusting that Captain Lorgen could outwit Royce.

  The bridge crew of the Selene was suddenly bathed in light as the Enigma’s search lights were trained on her.

  “Good,” said Kendrick. “Now I can see you.”

  And indeed, they could see the lines being fired from the Enigma and attaching to the Selene’s hull with magnetic clamps. Marines began making their way across the lines with gas propelled suits.

  “Sir, do you really have an ace up your sleeve?” asked Tanaka.

  “I’ve always got an ace up my sleeve,” replied Kendrick. “I’m just hoping that mine is good enough to overcome his.”

  “So, what’s the plan?” asked Nozaki.

  “Well, I fired the belly rockets as I was powering down the engines to push us closer to him. I’m hoping that with closer proximity and us powered down completely, the mines will be attracted to his ship and float away.”

  “That’s an awfully desperate plan, Sir,” said Mister Yoshida.

  “This is an awfully desperate situation,” replied Kendrick. “He has every advantage and laid this trap very painstakingly. There ain’t much else we can do except wait for the plan to work … or not.”

  “What if it does not?” asked Nozaki.

  “Then, we make him fight for his prize and take out as many of them as we can,” replied Kendrick.

  “Sir, they are marines,” observed Selena. “They are wearing powered armor and are heavily armed. No amount of guerilla tactics on our crew’s part will prevent the inevitable.”

  As the Selene drifted closer to the Enigma, the marines were reaching the Selene’s hull. The mines stayed lodged on Selene’s hull. Kendrick shook his head. He was out of options.

  “Well, guys, Selena’s right. I’m still gonna make ’em work for it, but this is probably it. Been an honor serving with you all.” He unbuckled himself, ready to go face the squad of marines all by himself, but Selena reached out and grabbed his belt, forcing him back into his chair.

  “No, I cannot allow this.” She abruptly unbuckled herself, pulled herself over to Kendrick and buckled his belts before he could react. Then, she exited the bridge, closing the door behind her. As the door closed, the blast shields came down over the bridge windows.

  “She locked us in,” cried Tanaka. “What the hell?”

  Lorgen’s men found the starboard air lock and forced it open fairly quickly. They were shocked to see a beautiful woman standing in the airlock. She was not blown out, so she must have depressurized the airlock before they opened it.

  They began to bring their weapons to bear, but she launched herself at the point soldier and slammed into him with far more force than a woman her size should have been able to generate. She took his gun and kicked him into space, hooking her other foot to the now taut zip line. She fired the gun one time for each marine, hitting them each in the visor before they could lower their blast shields. All of them began frantically covering their now shattered visors as their suits depressurized. Their efforts were for naught.

  The Enigma’s captain and crew watched in horror as the delicate looking woman obliterated the soldiers trying to board the Selene. The woman was not even wearing a space suit, from what they could see, and no body armor. But try as they might, the marines were soon killed, their bodies floating in space between the two ships.

  “Blow the mines!” shouted Lorgen, but his gunner shook his head.

  “They’re not remote controlled Sir,” Stiles replied. “They’re mines. They won’t go off unless he hits them hard enough or powers up the engines.”

  “Damn!” Lorgen cursed and spat as the marines’ frantic screams of terror faded with their lives. “They said it was a woman without a space suit.”

  “Sir, she’s using our own zip lines and detaching the mines.”

  “How?” Lorgen could not believe it. The perfect trap was being undone by a woman in nothing but a flight suit. He looked at her and could see her hair. She did not even wear a helmet. She was throwing the mines … at the Enigma!

  “Fire masers at the mines!”

  But soon as the masers powered up, an explosion rocked the ship. The mine she threw accelerated as it was attracted to the Enigma’s hull. Apparently, the mines’ energy attraction feature was reactivated when magnetic contact was broken, and the powering up of the maser drew it toward the Enigma and detonated it. More mines were coming their way as this lone woman swiftly made her way along Selene’s hull and tore the mines from the plates, hurling them at the Enigma. Two more exploded as they struck the Enigma’s hull. That was when the woman launched herself at the Enigma.

  “Hull breach in section D!” shouted Myers.

  “Power everything down!” shouted Lorgen, humiliated at having to do exactly wh
at Royce had already done. “Delta squad, get in there and seal off section D! The air tight doors will need to be closed manually!” Lorgen waited, then heard screams and shouts over the com from Delta squad.

  “She’s killing us!” the Delta leader shouted. “Retreat!”

  Lorgen and the bridge crew watched the camera feed, horrified by what they saw. She was shooting them, but she also was dancing all around them, snapping necks and breaking bones with powerful kicks. It was like watching a martial arts film. No human could move like that, but there she was. What a disaster, Lorgen thought. She killed them all, then looked at the camera, pointing to the floor. She had deposited one of the mines on the floor of the passageway. She then shot the camera.

  12

  Selena took stock of the dead “marines” who lay at her feet. She knew instantly that they were not marines, but something far more sinister. Selena found a terminal point and hacked into the Enigma, quickly finding the information she needed. Then, gathering up three of the slain soldiers, the gynoid launched herself back to the Selena, using the zip line to keep from drifting off into space. Once aboard, Selena closed the airlock and took the bodies of the three soldiers to the Med-Bay.

  The Med-Bay doors swished open, revealing Fiona huddled in the corner, clearly terrified of the possibility of Lorgen’s men capturing her. The doctor stood up when she realized that Selena had returned.

  “Doctor, you should look at these,” Selena announced, depositing each of the three men onto a table. “Given what your prior life and profession involved, and how you ended up on the run, I believe these men will be of particular interest to you.”

  Fiona joined Selena, looking at one of the men. He was dead, his neck broken. Otherwise, he was a fine physical specimen, both tall and quite robust.