Dubious Heroes: a novel

by Nicholas Blue

  Eng didn’t find Big Mike; Big Mike saw the job posting and found Eng. His credentials were excellent, although we knew those could be faked, and his references, which were much harder to manufacture, we just as good. Eng thought he would be okay, at least for a quick jaunt to the planet and back, and that was good enough for me.

  A semi-transparent hologram of Tzing Ma Chu floated in the center of the Bridge, spinning slowly. It was a real-time image compiled from our external cameras, tri-d radar, and some specialized sensors down in Science. Our landing site was denoted by one glowing light, and the four UP Interceptors showed up as blips, as we tracked them around the planet. Fortunately, they were following their expected routes, and staying the hell away from our insertion window.

  The UP ships would certainly notice us when we showed up. First, the surveillance satellites would detect us, then probably the Interceptors themselves. We’d be coming in like a bat out of hell, so the real issue wasn’t so much about being seen, as it was about keeping them from catching us until we could get low enough and out of sight. In a few minutes, we’d know whether it was going to work or not.

  “Nice weather system there”, Eng said, looking at a gigantic swirl of clouds covering a sizable portion of the northern hemisphere.

  “All the better to hide under”, I said

  “Guys”, Kyra said, looking at the globe, “I think that’s tropical.”

  “So?” I asked. “It’s a tropical planet. What else would it be?”

  “Not just a tropical weather system, but a tropical storm“, she said. “You get them on Earth, and a few other planets. Believe me, they are not just weather systems.”

  “Again, so what?” I said, determined to be dense. “We’re in a two-hundred ton starship. I hardly think a little bad weather is going to slow us down.”

  “Angie”, Kyra said, “Do we have a meteorology system?”

  “We do”, Angie said. “It’s part of the planetary survey equipment in the Science Module.”

  “Can you bring it online, and tell us anything about that system down there?”

  “I don’t have any way to see actual surface conditions”, Angie said. “I’d have to deploy a met probe, and I can’t do that until our speed is much lower. If I deploy it now, it will burn up on entry.”

  “Is there anything at all you can tell us about it?” I asked.

  “Aye, Captain”, she said. “The Met System has identified it as a weather system of sub-tropical origin, similar in appearance and structure to systems on Earth collectively known as typhoons, hurricanes, or tropical cyclones, all of which are essentially the same thing.”

  “What can we expect, once we’re in it?” Kyra asked.

  “I’ll have to model it”, Angie said. “Give me a moment.”

  We waited in silence as she worked on it.

  “Okay”, she said. “I can’t be exact, but based on a model of similarly-sized Earth systems, we should expect to experience surface winds in the range of one hundred to one hundred fifty miles per hour, possibly as high as two hundred twenty miles an hour, although the latter is unlikely, given that the topology and vegetation of the planet create drag at the surface, and act to temper the wind speed. We can also expect a significant amount of precipitation, and I’m already detecting intense electrical activity within the storm.”

  “And the impact on us will be…?” Eng asked.

  “I don’t expect any of this to affect our landing our touchdown, in any significant way”, Angie said.

  “So, we’re landing in the middle of a typhoon”, I said.

  “No, not in the middle”, she said. “Fifty-two miles from the middle.”

  “That thing is eight hundred miles wide”, Eng said. “We’ll be damn close to the middle.”

  “True”, she said. “But, the Enigma masses one hundred ninety-four tons, empty weight, on this planet. Trust me, we’ll never notice the weather.”

  “That’s not entirely accurate”, Kyra said. “The weather might not affect the Enigma, but how about the ground team? I don’t believe we humans are quite so impervious to hundred mile an hour winds.”

  “Shit”, I said. I was on the ground team, along with Kyra. Suddenly, I had a keen interest in typhoons.

  “Exactly”, Kyra said. “I think we should abort.”

  “As bad as it might be”, I said, “I’d rather not. Angie says we can make it down, no problem. So we go, and see what conditions are like when we get there. She’s just estimating anyway; maybe it won’t be as bad as we think.”

  “It could also be worse”, Eng said, channeling Cozi. The two did hang out a lot together.

  “Maybe so”, I said. “If that’s the case, then we improvise. We could use tethers or something. For now, how about we concentrate on just getting there.”

  “It’s your call”, Eng said, politely letting me know whose fault it would be if things screwed up.

  “It is”, I said, “And unless I get solid evidence that things are worse than we think, we’re on. Angie, what’s our status?”

  “Current speed is thirty-eight thousand miles per hour, and holding”, she said. “Main drives are offline, and we are in the slot for our insertion window.”

  “And the welcoming committee?”

  “Where they should be”, Kyra said. “No change in any of them. I suggest we continue in as hard and fast as Angie can manage, without killing us.”

  “Angie?” I said.

  “From talking to the other AIs, I gathered that the UP Interceptors shouldn’t attempt to engage us until we’re down around three hundred thousand feet. They’ll drop out of their low orbit as soon as they know we’re there, but it will take them time to reach us, and there’s just not enough atmosphere above the sixty mile mark for them to maneuver in. Like us, they need the thicker atmosphere to fire their ramjets.”

  “So”, I said, “Around sixty miles up, they’ll try to intercept us, and if they can, they’ll start shooting.”

  “That would be the best case scenario for them”, Angie said. “Even at that altitude, we’ll still be moving at nearly thirty thousand miles an hour, and the friction will have us glowing like a meteor. Then I’ll fire the ramjets, and assuming that the interceptors are even there, any targeting they do is going to be very tricky.”

  “I hope those ramjets light”, Eng said.

  “You’ve been hanging with Cozi too much”, I said, sighing. “You’re starting to sound like him.”

  “Knock it off, guys”, Kyra said. “I’d like to hear this.”

  “Sorry”, I said. “Please continue, Angie.”

  “Aye, Sir. If I hold off firing the jets until somewhere around thirty miles up, we’ll reduce the amount of time they have to react substantially. If they do manage to intercept us at a higher altitude, we’ll whiz right by them, and they’ll have a very hard time catching up.”

  “How many gees will we pull?” I asked.

  “Ten or eleven”, she said.

  “Jesus Christ, Angie”, I said. “Versus what?’

  “Versus eight or nine, if we fire the jets as high as two hundred fifty thousand feet”, she said. “Either way, I expect all of you to black out briefly. Eleven gees shouldn’t cause any permanent damage to anyone, if we keep the duration short. You’ll all be on acceleration couches, anyway.”

  “We’re paying for a doctor”, Kyra said. “Why not run it by him?”

  “Good point”, I said. “MedLab…”

  “MedLab”, Big Mike said.

  “This is Doon. Nine gees versus eleven gees. What’s the difference?”

  “About two gees”, he said.

  “Very funny”, I said. “Kyra and I could use someone with a sense of humor on the ground team.”

  “I assume you’re asking whether or not the extra two gees will hurt us, and the answer is, it shouldn’t. You’re just as likely to black out and nine gees as you are at eleven. Get much higher than eleven, though, and you’re pushing the envelope, riski
ng serious cerebral issues. If I had to choose, I’d say keep it to nine, max.”

  “Thanks”, I said. “Whatever happens, hang on down there.”

  “Count on it”, he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “Bridge out. If anyone needs to take a leak, now’s the time. Otherwise, let’s land on this rock and get some water.”

  No one moved, as we sat watching the live view of the planet grow larger on the main vidscreen. Minutes ticked by, feeling like hours. I kept calling up different screens at my console, but I wasn’t really paying attention to them. My eyes were constantly drawn to the image of the rotating globe, and the four tiny red blips that hovered about it, seeming to crawl across its’ surface. As I watched, two of them seemed to be slowing.

  “They’ve seen us”, Kyra said. “We’ve just been hit with radar and laser scan by their satellite net.”

  “Transponders are off, right?” I asked.

  “Give me some credit”, Kyra said, annoyed. “I turned them off the minute we left New London.”

  “Planetary insertion in five, four, three, two, one… ”, Angie said.

  I tried, but couldn’t tell any difference. Eng must have been reading my mind.

  “It won’t start to get bumpy for a few more minutes”, he said. “Hardly any atmosphere this far up.”

  “Cruisers three and four have altered course and are moving to intercept”, Kyra said. “Guess we’re about to find out how fast they really are.”

  “Range?” I asked.

  “Ten thousand and closing, for the nearest one”, she said.

  “Do we have any idea how fast they might be?” I asked.

  “That’s classified data”, Eng said. The UPDF doesn’t release the specs on their ships. Still, they’re using hydrogen ramjets, albeit smaller ones than ours, and they can reach a low orbit, so I’d guess they can reach at least fifteen thousand miles an hour. Probably can’t maintain that speed for very long, though; sustained, maybe a third of that. Slower, if they’re shooting at us.”

  “Track them and give me an ETA, please”, I said.

  “I’m already on it”, Kyra said.

  “Status, Angie.”

  “Altitude one hundred twenty miles and closing. Speed is thirty seven thousand.”

  “I’m clocking cruiser three at almost twelve thousand miles an hour, so that puts them maybe forty minutes out”, Kyra said. “That’s the good news; they were halfway around the planet. Bad news is that they’ll be in missile range in about ten minutes. The other one is farther away. I think they’re hanging back until we drop lower, and slow down some. That’s what I’d do, anyway.”

  The ship began to shake, only a little at first, but it grew steadily. Within the span of a minute, it had gotten quite violent.

  “We’ve hit atmosphere”, Angie said, telling something we were all keenly aware of already. “Altitude is ninety-eight miles, speed is thirty-four thousand.”

  “We’re being hailed”, Eng said.

  “I didn’t think they liked to talk”, I said.

  “They probably won’t, once we’re in missile range”, he said.

  “Put em on the speaker”, I said. “Hello, anyone out there?”

  “Unidentified ship, this is the UPDF Interceptor Luzon. You are in violation of Tzing Ma Chu planetary airspace, and are subject to being fired upon, if you don’t follow our instructions precisely. Do you copy?”

  “Hey, do you guys know how to fly one of these things?” I said.

  “Fire your engines and begin deceleration at once”, the UPDF guy said. I figured it was a person, rather than an AI. “And identify yourself.”

  “Which button do I push to do that?”

  “Again, please identify yourself”, the voice said. Definitely human, and losing patience.

  “Would you knock that off?” Kyra said. “You’re just going to piss them off even more.”

  “Sorry”, I said, both to Kyra and the UPDF guy. “We’re having trouble picking you up, UPDF. We’ll try to figure this out and get back to you.”

  “Comm off”, Angie said. “Three hundred fifty thousand feet, speed is thirty-three thousand.”

  “I expect them to fire on us as soon as we’re in range”, Kyra said. “We’ve got maybe seven or eight minutes. They’re figuring we’ll fire our jets any minute now.”

  “Let’s see that they lose that bet”, I said. “Angie, give us all the time you can.”

  “Roger”, she said.

  We continued our freefall, the ship shaking so violently, I was wondering how she’d manage to hold together. I tightened the straps holding me in my seat, and tried to ignore the sound of the wind tearing at us.

  “They’re firing missiles”, Kyra said. “They’ll never hit us at this speed; those missiles just aren’t that fast. Wait a second.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “The second cruiser is coming in lower, hanging back.”

  “Where is it?” I asked.

  “These guys are not stupid”, she said. “We blast now, the top guy will nail us. We wait, and fire off the jets lower, and that ship will have a bead on us. He’ll intercept us at around a hundred-thousand feet.”

  “Altitude two hundred thousand”, Angie said.

  A moment later, I heard something clang outside the ship.

  “What the fuck was that?” I asked. “Did they just hit us with something?”

  “Negative on that”, Eng said. “Something just fell off. Or got shaken off. I think it was lower down on the hull.”

  “Yeah, but what?” I asked.

  “Hopefully, something we don’t need”, he said.

  “That was the telescope coming loose from the Science Module”, Angie said. “I’m not detecting any hull damage, so I don’t believe it hit anything. I think we were supposed to dismount it for planetary landings.”

  “That would have been nice to know in advance”, Eng said.

  “I know, right?” I said

  “Missile one is closing”, Kyra said.

  “ECM engaged”, Angie said.

  “ECM?” I said.

  “Electronic countermeasures”, Kyra said.

  “We have ECM?” Eng asked, beating me to it.

  “We do now”, Angie said. “We’re jamming radar, microwave, and laser tracking.”

  “That’s a miss”, Kyra said. “Nowhere near us.”

  “Beginning main ramjet ignition sequence”, Angie said.

  “Scoops are open”, Eng said. An alarm sounded, blaring throughout the ship, and the Enigma began to shake violently.

  “Firing ramjets in five, four, three, two, one…”

  For a moment, I felt like I was being crushed. I couldn’t breathe, or move a muscle. I could still see, but then the blackness began closing in, first from the edge of my vision, then moving inward. A moment later, there was nothing but the darkness, and silence.

  The gravity slammed back into me like a fist to the gut. I opened my eyes, gasping. The alarms were quiet.

  “How long was I out?” I said, to no one in particular.

  “Sleeping beauty awakens”, Kyra said. “You were only out for about ninety seconds.”

  “What about everyone else?” I asked.

  “Less than you”, she said. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now, we have a more immediate concern, and it keeps trying to get a radar lock on us.”

  “Sixty thousand feet”, Angie said. “Speed is down to twelve thousand, and dropping fast.”

  “How many gees?” Eng asked.

  “Currently four point two”, Angie said. “I’m trying to feather it off, but we still have a lot of velocity to shed, and we don’t have a lot of time to do it.”

  “Incoming missile”, Kyra said. “Closing… shit, they have radar lock… closing… ”

  A muted thud and explosion sounded from outside the ship.

  “Was that a hit?” Eng asked. “It didn’t feel like a hit.”

  “Nope”, Kyra said.
“It blew before it reached us. Self-destruct, I think.”

  “Forty-five thousand feet”, Angie said. “Speed is eighty-nine hundred.”

  “They’re chasing”, Kyra said. “We’re gaining on them, but not fast enough. They’ll get off another shot before we make the cloud deck.”

  “We’ll be in the clouds in ten seconds”, Eng said. “They can’t get a hard lock on us, so once we’re out of sight, they’re fucked.”

  “Incoming”, Kyra said. “No radar or laser lock. I think the AI is targeting us visually.”

  A moment later, another explosion sounded, closer than the last one.

  “I don’t believe it”, Kyra said. “They hit the self-destruct again.”

  “We’re in the cloud deck”, Eng said, “And the cruiser is disengaging. It’s acting a bit… odd, too.”

  “Odd, how?’ I asked.

  “Erratic flight path”, he said. “Looks like they’re having some sort of control issue.”

  “Your doing, Angie?” Kyra asked.

  “Probably just a mechanical problem”, Angie said, “But I can’t say for sure. I can look at it later, but right now, I need to get us down safely.”

  “You do that”, Kyra said, sounding annoyed.

  “Anyone check on the crew below?” I asked.

  “They’re fine”, Kyra said. “That’s Urbano’s responsibility, anyway.”

  “How many gees did we pull?” I asked.

  “Twelve”, Angie said. “But only for about ten seconds, and then I backed off on the thrust.”

  “That’s still high”, I said. “Lethal, even.”

  “Apparently not”, Kyra said, “Since we’re still here.”

  Given her mood, I could tell the trip planetside with her was going to be a real fun fest.

  “Status, please”, I said.

  “Twenty-five thousand feet, dropping slowly now. I’ve begun our lateral traverse toward the landing site. Technically, we’re still in the cloud deck. Speed is fifteen hundred, and we’re six minutes from touchdown. Should be no more than a two or three gee landing.”

  “Tri-d is clear”, Kyra said, “Which is weird… it shouldn’t be. They should still be up there, looking for us.”