Star Scavenger: The Complete Series Books 1-5

by G J Ogden

  Hudson’s eyebrows hit his hairline, “An alien space station?” Liberty nodded. Then Hudson’s console bleeped again. “Some of the other ships are powering up, so we need to make a call right now – planet or space station?”

  Liberty smiled, “Why are you even asking? Space station of course!”

  “Always the adventurer!” Hudson chuckled, and then he tightened the straps of his seat. “Get ready for a high-g burst; we’re about to become the first humans to set foot on an alien space station!” Then he angled the nose of the Orion towards the second Shaak signature, and slammed the throttle fully forward.

  CHAPTER 6

  Liberty’s rapid drive systems restart had given the Orion an advantage in the race towards the new alien station, but not by much. They had gained a couple of minutes at most, before the first wave of relic hunters caught up with them.

  Only ten ships had survived the transit through the portal, besides the Orion, and this included the MP Cruiser and two RGF Patrol Craft. That left eight other relic hunters, with Cutler Wendell’s FS-31 amongst them.

  “Looks like five are heading for the planet and the other three are angling for the station, like us,” said Liberty.

  “Let me guess, Cutler is one of the ones heading to the station, right?” said Hudson, with a raise of his right eyebrow.

  “No, he’s heading to the planet.”

  Hudson jerked his head to face her, “Really?” However, Liberty’s sardonic smile told him she was just pulling his leg. “Damn it, Liberty, you had me going for a moment then.”

  “Sorry…” said Liberty, in a way that suggested she wasn’t really sorry. “Though, I’m actually beginning to think the planet is a better option.”

  “That sounds ominous,” replied Hudson, starting to decelerate hard so they could approach the alien station at a more maneuverable speed.

  “For some reason, I didn’t even consider basics, like gravity and atmosphere,” Liberty went on. “As in, the planet has them, and the station doesn’t.”

  Hudson rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t considered that either, and felt stupid for not doing so. He’d just heard the words, ‘space station’, and assumed it would be as simple as docking at Deimos. “Right, that might be a problem.”

  “Shall we alter course to the planet, instead?” asked Liberty, “We’ve lost our lead, but there’s still plenty to go around, before the MP or RGF have a chance to call time on the initial hunts.”

  Hudson nodded, “Okay, but let’s fly past the station en-route. Who knows, there might be some pockets that still have pressure, or maybe we’ll spot something valuable that we can scoop into the hold.”

  Liberty agreed and they continued on course, but it wasn’t long before they realized it was no ordinary space station. “That thing is massive,” she said reading the more detailed scans. “It’s practically a small moon, almost half the size of Deimos.” Then she seemed to become distracted as additional information flashed onto her screen. “Hold up, there seems to be a ship docked there.”

  Hudson’s eyebrows hit his hairline again. “Docked at the station? Send me the co-ordinates, and I’ll swing past it.”

  Liberty relayed the position, but she was frowning now. “No, I was wrong; it’s not docked, but impaled into the station. From the looks of it, it’s the same design as the alien wrecks on the portal worlds. But it’s like the thing has been split in half through the mid-section.”

  “What the hell sort of weapon could do that?” wondered Hudson, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck tingle. The Orion passed around the far side of the station, and then Hudson saw what Liberty’s scanners had detected first. He could scarcely believe what he was seeing. There was half of an alien wreck smashed into the side of the space station, protruding like the spout of a teapot.

  Suddenly the lights in the cockpit dimmed, and the crystal in the scendar device began to glow. “Hey, Liberty, tell me you know why it’s doing that,” said Hudson, feeling his stomach tighten into a knot. At the back of his mind, he was still worried that Liberty’s home-made contraption might explode, irradiate them or otherwise take them out in some other grisly manner.

  “I’d love to,” said Liberty, who was now frantically paging through different screens of information, across multiple monitors. “Shit, I forgot to shut the scendar down after activating the portal. It has been cycling through Shaak radiation frequencies for all this time.”

  “Are you saying it’s found another portal?” asked Hudson.

  Liberty shook her head, “Not another portal. More like another alien power source. Wait… something’s happening.”

  Hudson was about to yell back, ‘What?! What’s happening?!’, but the answer had already become apparent. Directly outside the cockpit, they could now see the space station coming to life. Lights flickered on all across its vast surface, and the indicator on Hudson’s Shaak radiation scanner went through the roof.

  “Did we…” Hudson paused, realizing the question he was about to ask sounded ridiculous, but he asked it anyway. “Did we just turn that alien space station on?”

  Liberty’s expression was again almost giddy with excitement. “I think so!” Then she quickly assimilated the new readings and added, “And it appears to be rapidly pressurizing, or at least sections of it that are not damaged are. It’s an Oxygen-Nitrogen atmosphere, just like the planet. I’m detecting a gravity field too.”

  “Oxygen-Nitrogen, just like Earth…” Hudson added, though he was more thinking out loud. The fact they kept stumbling upon worlds that were hospitable to human life was improbable enough. However, that they’d now discovered a city-sized space station with breathable air was almost a step too far into an absurd new reality. Even more puzzling was where all the inhabitants had gone.

  “If our shape-shifting alien, Morphus, ever does show up again, remind me to ask him what happened to the damn people,” said Hudson.

  Liberty visibly shuddered, as if someone had stepped on her grave. “Honestly, I’m not sure I want to know…” she answered.

  Hudson then noticed his communications panel light up, and he huffed a laugh. “We’re receiving a message from the MP Cruiser,” he said, checking the text-only communication. “It was sent to all ships. Message reads, ‘All relic hunter vessels, immediately cease scavenger operations and return via portal to MP space. Unknown alien anomaly detected in system. Military jurisdiction is established’.”

  Liberty scowled back at Hudson, “Really? Can they do that?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea,” replied Hudson, “but I don’t see any of the other ships obeying that command.”

  “If we leave now, we get nothing,” said Liberty. “By the time they let us back, the MP and RGF will have already established their cordons, and taken the juiciest relics for themselves.”

  Hudson sighed and grabbed the controls, before pushing the thruster lever forward.

  Liberty half-frowned, half-smiled, “What are you doing?”

  Hudson pointed out through the glass to a section of the space station. “That looks like a nice place to dock,” he said, aiming his finger at what looked like an open bay area. “We lock on to the station’s hull, cut through, and do what we came here to do.”

  Liberty laughed, “So rebellious, I love it!”

  The navigation scanner bleeped and Hudson checked it quickly, before letting out another sigh. “Don’t get too excited yet,” he said, in a darker tone. “Three other hunters are following us into the space station, and one of them is…”

  Liberty cut Hudson off, before he finished the sentence. “Don’t tell me, FS-31 Patrol Craft Hawk-1333F. Cutler Wendell and Tory Bellona...”

  CHAPTER 7

  Hudson piloted the Orion deeper inside the cavernous interior of the alien station, sweeping the searchlight across the inner walls. Though it was unmistakably unearthly in design, to Hudson’s eyes, it certainly had the appearance of a docking area. There were organized sectors, with what looked like docking
hatches, plus platforms and docking arms that weren’t hugely dissimilar to human designs. However, despite all the evidence pointing to its use as a docking bay, there was one crucial element missing – there were no ships.

  “This place is giving me the creeps,” said Hudson, as he continued to make his sweep inside. “This bay is large enough to accommodate hundreds of ships, but it’s as dead as a ghost town.”

  “Well, there’s more than one ship in it now,” commented Liberty. “The other three hunters are also snooping around inside. We’ve even been joined by one of the RGF patrol craft.”

  Hudson scrunched up his nose. “RGF, why would they be in here? Their role is to set up the initial checkpoint perimeter and Shaak scanners.”

  “Beats me,” replied Liberty, “but they’re the least of our worries. Cutler’s in here too.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got that shady bastard marked in red on my navigation scanner,” said Hudson. “If he strays too close, then we introduce him to our new nose cannon.”

  Hudson had expected Liberty to give her enthusiastic endorsement of this suggestion, but instead she just raised her eyebrows and gave a noncommittal nod. “You don’t agree with blowing Cutler to atoms?” asked Hudson. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “Oh, I agree,” said Liberty. “If I’m honest, I think giving them both barrels right now is one hundred percent our best option.”

  “But…” prompted Hudson.

  Liberty smiled, “But when it comes down to it, I don’t think you’d fire on that ship, knowing that Tory was inside. Admit it…”

  Hudson had gotten used to Liberty’s little jibes about Tory, and if he was honest, he had no desire to harm his mercenary guardian angel. Even so, if it came down to protecting them and the Orion, he wouldn’t hesitate, and he needed Liberty to know that.

  “Hey, don’t think for one second I won’t put that ship down if it threatens us,” said Hudson, fixing Liberty with a cold stare. “I admit that I may have a bit of a thing for Tory…”

  “A bit?” Liberty interrupted, with another raise of her eyebrows.

  “Okay, maybe I like her more than a bit,” Hudson yielded, “but I like what we have here a whole lot better.”

  Liberty nodded respectfully, acknowledging the sincerity of Hudson’s words. Then she too became more serious. “And if it came down to it, and you could only save one of us from dying a cold, lonely death on this station. Who would you choose?”

  “Come on, Liberty, what the hell kind of question is that?” said Hudson. He was genuinely offended.

  “It’s a question I need you to answer,” Liberty replied, unmoved by Hudson’s affronted reaction. “And I need you to look me in the eyes when you say it.”

  Hudson turned his seat fully to face Liberty and locked eyes with her. “It should go without saying,” he began, almost angry at being forced to put it into words. “But since you need to hear it, then listen well. There is no choice. No question. No doubt. In a toss-up between you and anyone else, it will always be you. You got that?”

  Liberty returned a shaky smile, but then turned away, so that Hudson couldn’t see her face. He was about to say more, when he saw sparks flying into space from one of the other relic hunter ships. It had already locked on to the station’s outer wall and was cutting through. He checked Cutler’s position then adjusted the nose of the Orion so he could get a visual. Cutler’s FS-31 was also thrusting up to the bay wall in an effort to hard-dock.

  “Come on, the other ships are cutting through,” said Hudson, pushing the Orion up to the nearest docking port – or at least the nearest thing that he assumed was a docking port. “We have some relic hunting to do, assuming you’re still game for adventure?”

  Liberty cleared her throat and then turned back to face Hudson, looking energized and fearless. “Last one on-board buys the drinks when we land back at Deimos.”

  “Well, since you still have all the hard bucks stuffed inside your jacket, that doesn’t seem like much of a threat,” said Hudson, “But I’ll race you anyway.”

  Hudson attached the Orion onto the wall of the space station, then they ran through the ship to the auxiliary docking ring. Together they worked fast, using cutting torches to penetrate the seals surrounding the alien docking hatch. He’d left plenty of space between them and the other hunters, who had all docked in a similar manner. This included the RGF Patrol Craft, which Hudson again found unusual. From his RGF academy training days, he didn’t recall there ever being a procedure for an occurrence such as this. Still, docking at the station seemed like an unnecessary move, when the RGF’s main role was to establish a checkpoint perimeter. He’d conveyed his concern to Liberty, but she was too caught up in the moment to be interested.

  “Masks on, until we can check out the air quality inside,” said Hudson, as he began to melt through the final seal of the docking hatch. Liberty nodded, and together they pulled their respirators over their mouths and noses. Hudson cut through the final seal, deactivated his torch and stepped away. Seconds later Liberty did the same, and the door fell inwards with a weighty thud as it hit the inner deck. A rush of cold air blew in to the Orion’s docking section, like an arctic wind.

  “Shit, this place is freezing!” complained Hudson, rubbing the tops of his arms. His voice sounded oddly robotic and menacing through the respirator mask. “I need to add some arctic wear options to our relic hunter liveries.”

  Liberty practically jumped through the hatch and then turned to face Hudson. “You also need to buy the next round on Deimos,” she said, before doing a sort of celebratory shuffle. “I set foot inside first!”

  Hudson shook his head and stepped through after her. “What you actually need to do is stop dancing around, and test the air to see if it’s breathable.” Then he reached back inside the Orion and secured the inner docking door. “The Orion’s all locked up; the last thing we need is some asshole hunter stealing our ship.”

  “Good thinking,” said Liberty, who was now walking around the new room, while looking at a wristpad attached to her left arm. “The air seems clean. A tad oxygen-heavy, but nothing that will cause us any problems.”

  Hudson joined her and then surveyed their new location. It was a rectangular room, with exposed pipework and a generally industrial-looking vibe. However, it also looked like it had been the site of a major skirmish, sometime in the distant past. There were scorch marks, craters in the deck and walls, and rubble littered all around them. Hudson pulled off his respirator and hooked it to the side of his rucksack. The air was still cold, but there was no odor that Hudson could detect. It was no different to standing in an air-conditioned room on Deimos or any other station, except that it was maybe ten degrees colder.

  “Looks like there was a fight on this station,” said Hudson, inspecting some of the marks. “But between who, I shudder to think.”

  Liberty also removed her respirator, and then examined some of the damage. “I think I’d rather not find out. These are some pretty serious blast marks.” Then she focused her attention on some of the other damage, running her hand across what looked like slash marks. “Explosive damage I can understand, but I wonder what made these gashes in the deck.”

  Hudson also inspected one of the cuts, and then noticed that there were all over, not just on the deck, but on the walls too. He shook his head and stood up, feeling even colder than the air around him. “I think this is another one of those things to file under, ‘I’d rather not know’.”

  Liberty stepped away from the wall and checked for exits, spotting three corridors leading away from the room. “Come on, let’s see what we can score. I don’t want to hang around here longer than we have to, especially with the other hunters running around.”

  Hudson nodded and then drew the pistol from the shoulder holster inside his leather jacket. Liberty scowled at the weapon. “Hey, better safe than sorry,” said Hudson, remembering Liberty’s dislike of firearms. “I doubt these other hunters you mention will be ha
ppy to share. Anything goes in here, so we need to be ready.”

  Liberty grudgingly agreed and then together they moved off, picking a corridor at random. Hudson scouted ahead, while Liberty dug around inside panels that had been damaged or blown open, occasionally returning to drop items into Hudson’s rucksack. They continued on in this way, until they reached a large double door, big enough that they could have driven a taxi flyer through it. It was partially open in the center, and Hudson pressed his face to the crack and peered inside.

  “Looks like this could perhaps be some sort of storage bay,” said Hudson, seeing stacks of containers and what looked like racks and lockers.

  Liberty yanked off a panel to the side of the door and peered at the circuitry inside. “Maybe I can hotwire it, and get it open,” she said, pulling a couple of tools from a pouch on her belt.

  Hudson stepped back and frowned. “Do you have any idea how this stuff works? This is, in case you’ve forgotten, an alien space station.”

  Liberty smiled at him. “I don’t have the faintest idea how it works,” she said, while poking one of her tools inside the panel. “But assuming it’s an electrical circuit of some kind, how different can it really be?”

  Hudson took another step back from the door. “I again feel the need to remind you about not blowing us both to hell…”

  “That’s rich coming from the guy who stuck a hand into some alien goop and accidently activated a shape-shifting artificial intelligence…”

  Hudson scowled, but once again Liberty had a point, and he had no come back.

  Just then there was a spark from the panel and a puff of smoke. A second later the giant double-doors whirred open. Liberty pulled her head out from the panel and beamed at Hudson. Her cheeks were covered in a light dusting of a black, soot-like substance, and her expression was smugness personified.

  “Am I good or what?” she said, adding a slight bow and a flourish.