"I don't want another ship, dammit," he growled in response. "That ship? It's our ship." The intensity of his expression gave way to the bitter reality. "It was our ship, anyway."
"Your uncle."
"He left her to me, entirely. Even before he… he died." Henry took another drink, as if the alcohol could wash away the raw pain building in his chest. "But it was still ours. We bought the Wolf. We put her back together. She's the last piece I have of him. Once she's gone…"
Linh swallowed. As she was sitting to his right, it was her organic left hand that reached up and touched his shoulder. "Tia told me how close you were to your uncle. She admired him too. That tells me he wasn't the kind of man who would want to see you like this."
"Oh, he wasn't. Doesn't change anything." Henry pushed the mostly empty glass away for the moment. "Fact is, I've never been sure I was worthy of him. Of any of them. Uncle Charlie. Tia. Cera. All of them. They deserve the best. And that's not me."
Linh shook her head. "I don't accept that," she insisted. "Not after everything you've done. Rallying the privateers to stop the League's plot against Lusitania. Clearing your name in the CDF and stopping the rogue general. You did all that. Hell, you even sweet-talked a Tash'vakal clan into letting you go."
"I didn't have a choice," he answered. "Doesn't make me a good man. Just a coward with a lot of luck."
"Is that really how you see yourself, Jim?"
"It's the harsh truth," he said. "A lot of people died to stop Erhart. They might've lived if I'd stood up to him back then instead of giving in."
"If you'd gone to prison, you wouldn't have brought your crew together." A worried expression crossed Linh's face. "Tia wouldn't have found a new path in life, wouldn't have rebuilt her pride and spirit."
Henry didn't answer that point directly. "That's what you're really thinking about, isn't it? Tia. You're afraid for her, just like all of us."
"I have good reason to be." Linh shook her head. "She needs you to get your act together if we're going to save her. There's no telling what they're doing to her, but I know it's bad. The corps back home can get vicious when dealing with resistance."
"I know. I was on Hestia before I met Tia, cargo run." Henry shook his head. "I saw the hangings and the public humiliations. I saw everything."
"We have to get her back," Linh insisted. "She's… she's the last of my comrades."
"We will," Henry promised. "Coward or not, I'll make sure of that."
"Thank you."
He gestured toward his glass. "Want to share one?"
"No, I need to get back to work," she said, sliding off the stool. "I have a lot to get finished before the Shadow Wolf can head back out." The look on her face turned pensive. "I think maybe you should call it quits too."
"I will. In a bit," he promised. "See you at the dock."
Linh let out a breath and departed.
Henry watched her go before he returned his attention to the now-empty glass. The bartender approached and took up the bottle of bourbon. "More?"
He wanted more. Really wanted more. The conversation and the emotions dredged up made him want just a bit more, to take the edge off.
Which was how he knew it was time to quit.
"No thanks," he said aloud.
The bartender nodded and took the empty glass. He handed Henry back his credit chit after scanning it to finalize the transaction. Henry pocketed the chit and stood up. He recognized he was at that fine line, not quite drunk but not entirely sober.
Charlie wouldn't want to see me like this, he thought. If only it didn't hurt so damn much.
He stepped out of the Watering Hole. The street was empty. Nearby was the base of one of the tubes connecting the station to its docking arms. He walked toward it, wondering if he'd catch up to Linh before she returned to the docks.
He entered the tube station and heard unexpected sounds coming from the lift car. He rushed ahead and turned the corner to look in.
There were three men in the car, each wearing what looked like tactical light armor or recon suits, rifles slung into place behind their shoulders. Two of them had sidearms up, pointing downward.
The third was on the floor, his hands pulling tight a tie-strap cord around the wrists of his captive.
Linh!
His approach wasn't unnoticed. One of the three armed men raised his head toward Henry. Without saying a word, he raised his gun up. Henry ducked back around the corner just before the man fired. A red bolt passed by, heating the air as it went. Plasma gun. Maybe helium. Henry pulled his CP-2520 from his waist holster and peeked around the corner, just to be forced back by the other gunman shooting as well.
There were no bolts after this one. Instead came the familiar metallic "shunk" of the lift door closing. Henry looked back and saw the display was showing the car ascending. He pulled his link from his pocket and moved on to the next available car. "Henry to Shadow Wolf. Anyone there?!"
The answer came a moment later. "Vidia here, what's the problem?"
"Someone's trying to kidnap Chief Khánh!" he shouted while holstering his pistol. This freed his right hand to activate the lift control. The doors closed and the car ascended after the prior one. "Get station security on the link, and anyone available in position to block their escape!"
11
Like any spacecraft or space station, Trinidad Station had a central control room to oversee the station's operating systems and preserve the hundreds of thousands of lives aboard the station.
The large form of Mavik Ts'shris loomed in the central pit of the room. The older Saurian's ruby red eyes went from display to display as the news came in of the kidnapping of one of the Dockworker Guild's senior officials. As head of the Security Guild, responsibility came down on him to stop their escape and find out precisely what was going on.
He pointed a taloned finger forward at one of the station minders before listing off a quick series of orders. "Have all security teams in the docking arms in position. Call up further teams to the other cars. All departures and arrivals are canceled until further notice. And shut down that transport car!"
A host of replies answered him. Everyone started putting his commands into effect.
"Communications, connect me to Captain Henry's link, now," he added. "His crew's links too. Whatever they know of this situation, I want to know it too!"
"Yes, sir!" called out the comm tech nearby.
* * *
A shudder filled the lift car carrying Linh and her captors to their escape. A frustrated grunt came from one of her attackers. He pulled out a portable computer unit and activated its holoscreen.
While she watched this, she also struggled against her restraints. The adrenaline rush she felt went a long way to focusing her for this task. Her ankles were too strongly secured, but she had hope for her wrists. The strength in her prosthetic right hand and forearm might be enough to break the tie-strap. Her left wrist burned as she struggled against the strap.
"Wallace, what's our status?" the lead kidnapper demanded.
"Almost got them isolated," the hacker answered. "The OS on the station's been updated, but the hardware can't run the latest counter-intrusion apps. I should be able to break their security in a minute."
"You bastards aren't getting away!" Linh shouted. The longer she delayed them, the more time for Mavik to get people in place. "I don't know who you sons of bitches work for, but Trinidad Station takes care of its own! Mad Jack and his crews will—"
The third man swirled about. His fist shot forward and slammed into Linh's jaw and face. She didn't have any bones broken, but she tasted the sharp tang of blood in her mouth from the cut on her lip. "Rigault's not paying us enough for this one," her assailant growled. He brought his gun up to her temple. "Let's kill her and get the proof of death for the bounty."
Hearing Rigault named was no surprise to her at this point. They must want me alive too. To hold over Tia? She resumed her struggling without giving her potential executioner a
ny attention.
Instead of answering the suggestion of killing her verbally, the leader's fist came up and smashed into the man's face. He stumbled backward and hit the floor of the transport car. "That's not happening," the man roared. "The client wants her alive if at all possible, and the bounty's better. Point that gun at her again and I'll break your damned fingers."
The other man's nose dripped blood down his face. Whatever his fierceness before, it was clear he believed his boss. "Sorry, Trapper."
"Ha!" The hacker's crow of triumph came with another shudder in the car. They were moving again. Linh cursed under her breath. "The local yokels got shit on my mad skills!"
"What're you doing to keep them from getting control back?" asked Saxon.
"Keeping them busy, boss." The hacker laughed. "I just locked down their entire transport car system with encrypted access commands. I've also thrown in a few malware apps to mess with power systems and comms. That'll teach the yokels to mess with us."
"Good job, Wallace. Now let's get to the Ghast and collect our damn paychecks."
* * *
Henry knew something was wrong when he felt his car shudder and cease moving. He held his link up. "Station Control, this is Jim Henry. My car just stopped. What's going on?"
No response came. Henry checked his link's display and it showed the connection as inactive. The station couldn't connect to his link. He tapped at it to transfer to the Shadow Wolf's comm system, but it didn't connect either.
Sabotage. The snatch team must have a hacker.
That was bad news for Linh. If they had a hacker who could lock up the station's systems, it meant they had a real shot at escaping. Hopefully, the others are in position to hold them, he thought while considering his own options. Dammit, I owe it to Tia and Linh to do something. I'm not going to just sit here while they get away.
A desperate plan formed in his mind. He went over to the marked emergency compartment at the side of the car and pulled out an emergency vac-suit. The softsuit fit over his clothes easily enough, with the bottom of the boots possessing a magnetic layer for EVA movement on an external surface. The digital HUD display on the softsuit faceplate told him he had four hours of oxygen. He grabbed the car's fire extinguisher and went to the manual hatch control. It opened for him and exposed the lever to open the door, complete with the warning signs to remind riders of the danger this presented. Henry hooked an arm around the nearby rail before yanking the lever down.
The door hissed as it opened, and a roar briefly filled the car. The atmosphere in the lift was sucked right out, nearly bringing Henry with it if not for the strength with which he held to the rail.
Once the pull ceased, Henry let go. With the artificial gravity still active in the car, all he had to do was walk out the door. He did so carefully to avoid drifting too far from the transport line leading to the docking arm. He lowered the nozzle on the fire extinguisher to point it toward Trinidad Station and squeezed the handle.
White spray erupted from the nozzle, releasing the flame retardant chemicals with enough force to propel Henry with growing speed toward the docking arms. He carefully controlled the direction of the nozzle to keep himself on course, an act that demanded greater focus than usual. He felt grateful that he'd resisted that extra shot of whiskey, even if it left him sober enough to be scared of pulling this stunt. I'm just drunk enough to think this is a good idea!
* * *
The only moving transport car for Trinidad Station came to a stop at Arm 1. Wallace triggered the machine to open its door, allowing the team to step out of the car.
The sentiment of "So far, so good" came to mind for Saxon, even if his professional experience left him well aware that it wasn't a done deal until he was actually off the station with his quarry. His other man, Morales, hefted their captive over his shoulders. The captive glared hate at them, but Saxon figured he could see the terror behind it. She had an idea of why she was marked, and she didn't like it. In his experience, few did.
The long promenade of Arm 1 stretched before them. It wasn't a commercial area so much as it was dedicated to getting cargo to and from the ships that came in. Old helium-3 fuel lines, meant for transferring the element in gas form, dominated the ceiling. The walls were lined with equipment stalls and the doors to the loading and repair docks. The entire arm was now in partial shadow with Wallace's sabotage messing with the station's power and control systems.
"Where's the security team?" Morales growled. "Did Tessan take 'em?"
"Yes, I did," said a voice from the gloom. A stout Harr'al looked around the corner, his rubbery face and violet eyes lit up through the faceplate of his helmet. His hands held a magnetic auto-carbine, League manufacture, one of tens of thousands of such weapons the League dumped into Neutral Space to support "social solidarity" movements or, frankly, any group willing to hurt the Coalition or pro-Coalition governments. "This way."
"Does Lisa have the Ghast ready?" Wallace asked.
"She lit the reactor up the moment you shut things down," Tessan answered. "We're good to burn out the moment we're aboard."
"Good," said Saxon. "The sooner we're in void, the sooner we get to the jump zone. Mad Jack's going to be all over us the moment he has us on scanners."
There was no time for anyone to agree. A solid beam of violet light flashed to life and struck Tessan square in the shoulder. A burst of red plasma caught him in the leg and a spark of blue light, courtesy of a charged pulse weapon, flashed just past Saxon's head. The Harr'al mercenary cried out in pain and dropped.
Saxon and his people reacted professionally, dropping low to minimize their profile as targets and rushing to the nearest available cover. In this case, the cover was the side of a collection of equipment lockers along the outer wall. They pulled the locker doors open to use as cover and raised their weapons to return fire. "Shooters are ahead, further down the arm!" Morales shouted.
Saxon glimpsed around the corner of the locker door. Despite the gloom, he could see some movement on the opposite end of the hall, behind an anti-grav crate hauler. He brought his rifle up and fired toward the hauler.
"So much for a clean getaway," Wallace groused. "Did Tessan miss any of their security?!"
"Doesn't matter," Saxon said. "We're not stopping." He jumped out of cover and dashed several steps before hitting the floor. Energy weapon fire baked the back of his head, but he'd dropped quickly enough to not get hit. He raised his rifle and poured fire at the hauler. "Suppressive fire, now!" he bellowed. "Go! Go! Go!"
* * *
With Arm 1 looking in his vision, Henry had a new problem: the need to decelerate.
The vast majority of space vessels these days decelerated with graviton fields. That didn't apply to a human being in a softsuit.
Henry glanced at the fire extinguisher. He'd used a lot of the contents in getting himself up to a useful speed. He had to hope the rest was enough to decelerate him enough to make mag boot contact with the side of Arm 1. He twisted himself around so that his feet were now pointing toward the docking arm, pointed the extinguisher nozzle that way, and triggered it again.
The arm still approached steadily. Not just steadily, but rapidly, and Henry's stomach threatened to leap into his throat at the prospect of hitting the arm too hard. Alternatively, if he was wrong about the remaining contents of the extinguisher, he might decelerate too much and kill his speed. The suit, being an emergency suit and not a dedicated EVA operations suit, provided him no velocity information, so he had to judge it entirely by himself. Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have had that last shot as well, he thought as he braced himself.
The extinguisher gave up the ghost with a last hiss of flame retardant. He was now officially adrift in space, or would be if he didn't manage to remain gripped to the docking arm. He watched it grow larger below his feet, at a speed he worried would be too much. He looked around to see if there was something he might yet use to grab hold…
Impact.
He felt the coll
ision jar his bones and waited for the sensation of being bounced free of the arm, left to drift helplessly in the void.
Relief flooded him at the sensation of solid surface against his feet. He looked down to confirm that, yes, the magboots were strong enough to have canceled out the reaction force of his landing.
There was little time to celebrate. For Linh's sake, every second counted. He moved across the docking arms, looking for a manual access hatch or an open dock.
There was a burst of static in his ear. "...Control to EVA suit on Arm 1. Can you hear me?" The alien guttural tone was familiar, if not the same as Henry usually heard.
"Chief Ts'shris." Henry nodded as he took another step. "I read you."
"What in the Prophet's name are you doing EVA?"
"My car was stopped. This was the fastest way to go after the kidnappers."
"Very reckless," the Saurian said, his tone mildly approving. "You've got a manual access hatch coming up, ten meters ahead and two meters toward the outer end of the docks."
To my left, then. "I hear you, on my way."
"I'm getting teams there as quickly as I can, but my Arm 1 team stopped responding, and the others are trying to get access. They've locked down most of the station transport system with cyber-attacks."
"If we're lucky, my crew got into position before the lockdown finished," he answered, moving the next meter forward. "Coming up on the hatch now."
"I'm relaying the entry code for you."
By the time Henry came up to the hatch, a code was showing on his suit's faceplate. He reached down to the hatch control pad and tapped in the alphanumeric code exactly. The controls blipped yellow for a moment before flashing green. The hatch irised open.
He lowered himself into it and hit the interior door control, sealing the hatch behind him. Air rushed into the room in seconds and a light on the opposite door went from red to yellow to green, at which point Henry was able to open it. He stepped through into a maintenance crew's room. EVA suits lined both sides of the wall along with tools.
Breach of Trust: Breach of Faith Book Four Page 9
