Storm Divers (Book 1 of The Fractured Republic Saga)

by Terry Mixon

  She quickly captured the contents of the journal with her com and then put everything back precisely as she’d found it. She made one last pass through the shop and quarters to be sure she’d left no trace.

  Satisfied, she erased her presence from the other bug’s central unit and paused the recording long enough for her to slip out. The people monitoring the stream wouldn’t know, because the unit only recorded movement and noise. Blank times were expected.

  She locked the shop, rearmed the security system, and killed her jammer. Now he’d be none the wiser.

  “Excuse me.”

  Rachel put a smile on her face and turned around. Two men in station security uniforms had just come out of a building across the street and were heading toward her.

  Oh, hell. This might be awkward.

  Chapter Six

  Adam wanted to be conservative, but with two units gone, he’d have to go for broke. He pushed his remaining thrusters as hard as he dared and rose into the stormy clouds. The gravity was punishing, but less than it should’ve been.

  “Well, folks,” he said for the camera, struggling to form coherent words under the pressure. “It looks like…my luck has…turned bad. I’m heading…back up with…two failed thrusters.

  “It’s a toss-up. If I…make it back, this…might be my most…exciting video yet. If I don’t, let that…be a lesson to you…that you can never…have too much…of a…safety margin.”

  He cut to the private channel. Under normal circumstances, he’d use it to talk with Jason when he was in range of the station. In this case, he could record a private message that only his friend would get if he didn’t make it.

  “I’m not sure…what happened, bro, but you…can’t blame yourself. That was…some damned…powerful lightning. Two separate hits. I’m lucky…anything still works.”

  He stared into the camera, which had gone private with the channel switch. “I’m serious here, man. I don’t want you…blaming yourself. I made the choices…that got me here today…and I have…no regrets.”

  Adam grinned. “Now, if you’ll…excuse me, I need…to see about…making it home…alive.”

  He switched the system back to public mode and checked his caution and warning panel. The two thrusters were red, and so were his monitors. He hoped the external cameras were still recording. They should be. The damned things were nearly indestructible.

  There was something new. He had a yellow on the magnetic shield. It was still operating, but there was no telling how long it would last. Without his main screens, he couldn’t see exactly what had gone wrong. If it failed, he might make it back to the station, but he’d still die.

  “Looks like my…magnetic shield is…futzed,” he told the fans. “I might be…up the creek…if it goes…down entirely. This is definitely…not my day.”

  The ship fought its way above the clouds, and he began to see the sky darken. He was making it. He couldn’t set a course to the station if he couldn’t see it, though. His only hope was the repeaters they were dropping.

  The units fell into the atmosphere and burned up, but there were always supposed to be a few in range to transmit when the ships popped back up. They’d also retransmit his radio signals.

  “Jove Control, this is Alpha Delta One Five. Do you read?”

  A few seconds went by with no response. He must still be out of range. Or his antenna was fried. Wouldn’t that be great?

  He could test that theory, though. He made the manual switch to the antenna on the emergency telemetry package. It wasn’t as powerful, but nothing short of the destruction of the ship could break it.

  “Jove Control, this is Alpha Delta One Five. Do you read?”

  “Alpha Delta One Five, this is Jove Control. Go ahead.” The transmission was fading in and out, but it sounded like the same woman he’d spoken to before the drop. The lightning must’ve fried his main antenna.

  “Control, I’m declaring an emergency. I’ve lost two thrusters and my main electronics. I can’t see the station and I’m not sure I won’t lose another unit.”

  “Copy, Alpha Delta One Five,” the woman said briskly. “Come port three degrees and raise your nose a little. We’re scrambling a rescue unit, but you’ll need to get further out of the atmosphere before it can get to you.”

  He changed course as indicated, and the private circuit cut in. “You broke my ship, didn’t you?” Jason demanded. “Dammit, boy. Do you know how much that thing cost?”

  “You know how it is,” Adam said wryly. The G forces were coming down as he made it into orbit. “I’ve lost two thrusters, my main electronics, and the magnetic shield is having some kind of issue. I think it’s still working, but I can’t do any measurements to be sure how well.”

  “Crap. Let me see if I can get in remotely. Hmm. The magnetics are still online, but the primary cooling loop is compromised. It’s heating up past the safety point.”

  The light for it on the caution and warning console went red. “I see that. It’s critical now.”

  “That’s me boosting the backup past the safety margin. It won’t hold long, so you need to get back in here soon, man.”

  “Working on it.”

  The G-forces dropped off completely as he made it into orbit. “Jove Control, this is Alpha Delta One Five. Be advised that my magnetic shielding is failing. I’m on the clock.”

  “Copy that, Alpha Delta One Five. We have a rescue tug almost to your location. If you have a complete failure, it will be able to bring you aboard.”

  That would save him, but not his ship. They had a lot invested in it, so he’d rather not abandon the damned thing to fall back into the king’s atmosphere.

  “Alpha Delta One Five, this is Cricket,” a male voice said. “I’m matching speed now. Man, you messed up that pretty blue paint job.”

  “It’s been that kind of day. How far off course am I?”

  The ship jolted as the tug grappled it. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it. I’ll do the driving from here on in. We’re about ten minutes out and Control has cleared the traffic for us to come in hot. Here’s the game plan. If you lose magnetics, you eject. I’ll pick you up faster than a hot lady in a bar.”

  Adam smiled. The man would get along great with Jason. “Copy that, but I’d rather not lose my ship.”

  “You can build another one.”

  If he ejected, the missing panels would compromise the integrity of the hull and the tug would crush his ship. That was the very last resort. “Roger, Cricket. We’ll do this your way.”

  “Just what I like to hear.”

  Things went smoothly enough until about a minute out. Then the caution and warning panel lit up again. The magnetic shielding unit had just failed.

  “You just lost the magnetics,” Jason said on the private channel. “Time to eject and let the man bring you home.”

  “Negative,” Adam said firmly. “We’re almost there. I’m not losing our ship now.”

  “Dammit! A minute of exposure—”

  “Isn’t fatal. They’ll give me some meds and I’ll be sick for a day or two. I am not losing our ship.”

  “Goddamned stubborn bastard,” Jason muttered. “You’re going to get yourself killed or sterilized.”

  “I’m never having kids and I storm dive. I’ll never even notice.”

  The general circuit came to life. “We’re almost ready to dock. How’re you doing in there?”

  “Just peachy. Be advised that my magnetics just failed.”

  “I’ll pass that on to the medical team we have on standby. We’re close enough to get you in alive. The king is being lenient today.”

  Adam smiled. “You know how it is. Some days you get the bear. Other days the bear gets you.”

  “Well, sit back and relax. Cricket out.”

  He’d relax when he was dead. They’d need to tear the ship down and find out why so many major systems failed all at once. Even two lightning strikes shouldn’t have been this devastating. Ther
e had to be something else going on.

  * * * * *

  Rachel smiled at the security men as she slung her bag over her shoulder. “Morning. Can I help you?”

  The two men stopped beside her, one stepping off to the side and looking at his com. The taller man tipped his hat back on his head a little and looked pointedly at the door behind her. “This your place?”

  “No, it belongs to Adam Hale. I was just checking to see if he was home. Why?”

  “No specific reason. We’re looking for an illegal com jammer. The neighbors complained and we’re trying to localize the signal.”

  She made a minor show of checking her com. “I seem to have signal. I wasn’t looking earlier.”

  The shorter man looked up. “The jammer is offline. Dammit, just when we were starting to close in on it.”

  The first man gave her a longer look. “Funny how that happened. Do you know anything about it, miss? I’ll need to see some ID.”

  “Certainly.” She smiled as she handed him her ID.

  Inside, she cursed. Now they’d have a link to tie her to Hale. She’d lie, if necessary. Say that she hadn’t gone inside. The door was in a small alcove, so they wouldn’t know for sure.

  The security man checked her ID against something on his com. Perhaps a list of wanted individuals. Most other places, she’d use a burner ID. Real, but not her data. Here, they had a record of everyone on the station. A person without a valid entry stamp would get a lot of attention.

  He handed her ID back. “Thank you for your time, Miss Price. Have a good day.”

  “Thank you. Good luck finding the jammer. Those damned things are a pain in the ass.”

  He smiled. “We’ll get that settled soon enough.”

  They headed one direction, and she sauntered off in the other. Once she was clear of the area, she decided she’d best go to the launch bay. If word of her hanging around his shop did turn up, she wanted to lower Hale’s suspicions by actually asking around after him.

  She arrived to find everyone glued to the screens and chattering as though something significant had happened. She heard Hale’s name and perked up.

  He’d had some kind of accident. Lightning strikes and thruster failures. It sounded like hair-raising stuff. Part of her was saddened to hear that he’d survived.

  Rachel spotted the same guy she’d spoken with earlier and cornered him for a more detailed explanation. One he seemed happy to provide.

  He ran down the events and pointed out some of the replays on the screens. She had to admit the lightning was impressive, and the angles of the flight versus the storm looked sharp.

  “They took him into the main landing bay, and I hear he’s off to medical with radiation exposure,” the man concluded. “Probably not a fatal dose, but it’ll make the fans go nuts when the official video goes out. The sponsors will go crazy, too.”

  “Storm divers have sponsors? Like a regular sport?”

  The man nodded. “Sure. They’ve gotta pay the bills. After this, a pile of companies will be fighting to get him to sign on with them. He’ll be an even bigger star.”

  She shook her head, bemused. “I guess I’ll never get it. Well, since I’m not going to catch him, I’ll head off. Thanks.”

  Rachel made her way back to the hotel. With her alibi as well seeded as she could make it, she needed to dig into the data she’d picked up. Perhaps his journal had some information about Zane. Or the men who’d bugged him.

  She ordered lunch while she put her gear away. Good thing security hadn’t searched her. This case was too full of close calls for her liking. She needed to slow down and do the job right. It wouldn’t help Zane if they tossed her into the detention center.

  Hale’s journal was handwritten, of course. Tight, neat script filled the lined pages. All dated for clarity. The earliest entry was almost fifteen years ago. When he’d joined the Army.

  Interesting. That meant he’d probably made an entry for the Mars attack.

  She really had no business worrying about it now, but she wanted to know what the bastard had to say for himself.

  Apparently, he was the kind of man who lied even to himself. His journal entries mirrored what he’d claimed had happened at the time.

  Why he’d lie to himself about there being a rogue RIS element, she had no idea. His personal notes still claimed that the intelligence service had perpetrated the atrocity against his orders. He also claimed the people in the office building had opened fire first. A base lie.

  Well, it didn’t matter. He could do whatever it took to sleep at night. She was here to find Zane. When Hale got out of the hospital, she’d press him again.

  He’d help her whether he wanted to or not. Then he’d pay for what he’d done.

  Chapter Seven

  The medical team gave Adam anti-radiation shots as they rushed him to the hospital and told him there were sophisticated methods of treatment awaiting him there. Which they rushed him to.

  He didn’t fight them. Radiation poisoning was serious shit.

  After they treated him and put him to bed, he spoke with the port authorities. He gave them a rundown of exactly what had happened. They already had the low-resolution video and the telemetry information from Jason. Based on how they acted, the investigation would be pro forma.

  The rescue bill wouldn’t be cheap and neither would the hospital bill. He’d find out the details when they tallied it up, but it would probably match the earnings from this little outing. If they were lucky.

  Once the doctors were sure the meds had successfully gone to work, they released him. If he had trouble, he could come back. The prognosis was for some nausea and a bit of fatigue. They’d gotten to him in time.

  Rather than head home, Adam went to their bay. Jason had come to see him at the hospital, but he knew his friend really wanted to dig into what had gone wrong.

  He found Jason disassembling a thruster when he walked into the bay. “That port thruster two?”

  Jason looked up, tossed his goggles onto the bench, and pulled him into a hug. “Damn, bro. Stop scaring me like that.”

  “Sure thing. I’ll give this up and learn knitting.”

  The other man snorted. “I can just see that now. You’ll need a few cats, too.”

  “Cats are cool. I need some for the rodent infestation.”

  The station had plenty of bugs and rats. Once they’d made it out here, humans couldn’t easily exterminate them. Roaches would probably survive the apocalypse.

  “Tell me what you’ve found.”

  “I’m still digging into it, but something isn’t right. That lightning was powerful, but the ship should’ve shrugged it off. It should’ve flowed around the hull without causing any damage.”

  Adam picked up part of the unit. “I can tell you now that didn’t happen. I felt the charge when it zapped me.”

  “That’s why I’m not sure what went wrong. It might not have been the thruster at all. It’ll take me a while to trace everything down, but I’ll find out what happened. It won’t happen again.”

  Adam clapped his hand onto his friend’s shoulder. “I know you’ll do everything possible. Let’s check it out together.”

  Jason frowned. “You should rest. You almost died today.”

  “I’ve got time enough to rest when I’m dead. I won’t be able to sleep until we figure this out. Let me look at the thruster while you check the ship to see why the lightning got through the shielding.”

  Adam finished tearing the thruster down and started examining the parts. The current had almost fused the electrical components. That seriously shouldn’t have happened.

  “I’ve got something funny here,” Jason said.

  Adam knelt by where his friend was looking at the thruster mount. “What?”

  “See this bright line? That shouldn’t be here. It’s the remains of a wire, I think. Where one had no business being. It melted fast, but not before the lightning fried the thruster.”

  “Let’s che
ck the other unit and the magnetic array.”

  They pulled the other failed thruster and found a similar smudge. It was a miracle they hadn’t both failed during the first strike.

  Adam felt his jaws tighten. Someone had tried to kill him. That hadn’t happened since his stint in the Army.

  The magnetics didn’t have anything like that, but it could’ve taken damage when the jolts ran through the ship.

  “What the hell?” Jason asked, scratching his head. “No way I’d let two wires hang like that.”

  Adam kept his face neutral. “Let me check one other thing.”

  He went back to the emergency telemetry package. It came out easily enough, and he took it to the bench. He knew it worked, but he had a suspicion. One that a few minutes of work confirmed.

  “The thruster on this is shorted out in a way that didn’t ping the caution and warning system. If the unit had fired, it would’ve dropped into Jupiter’s atmosphere like a stone.”

  Jason scratched his head. “I repeat, what the hell? Someone sabotaged you. Why?”

  “They wanted me to get into trouble down there and never come back up.”

  “Who have you pissed off that badly?”

  Adam shrugged. “Nobody. Not recently, anyway. Though I know of at least one new face around here.”

  His friend’s eyes widened. “That woman at the club? You sure you didn’t piss her off?”

  “Nothing in life is certain, but I’ll find out. Until I do, I think I’ll stay on the station. Go over the ship with a fine-toothed comb. If something else is buggered, I want to know about it.”

  Jason gestured at the telemetry package. “I’ll report this to the port. They need to know.”

  “Hang off on that until I ask a few questions. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

  * * * * *

  Rachel transferred Hale’s journal images to her comp and let it translate his handwriting into searchable text. The program wasn’t perfect, but it was damned close. Especially with neat lettering like his.