Dubious Heroes: a novel

by Nicholas Blue

  In typical UPDF fashion, they popped in, parked in a stationary orbit above the city, and began issuing demands, not the least of which was for us to surrender. It took us ten minutes to get everyone aboard who was supposed to be lifting with us, while at the same time making sure all of Arris' people were clear of the area. The news that we intended to lift immediately, or get blasted by the UPDF while trying, worked wonderfully to motivate them.

  I entered the Bridge to find Eng at his console, wearing only exercise shorts, and sticky shoes. I dropped into my seat, which spun and whirred, sliding me into my cocoon of vidscreens and controls. I began pulling up screens, checking the status of systems.

  "Of all the people I want to show up for work half-naked", I said, "the one who actually does isn't even on the list."

  "Very funny", he said. "I was asleep, and still beat you up here. I knew it was a bad idea not to have someone on the Bridge."

  "SOP is for the watch officer to be somewhere aboard, while we're in port", I said. "Besides, we all needed to get some rest."

  The lift door slid open, and Kyra walked in, sat at her console, and strapped in.

  "It has been a tough week", I said, continuing.

  "It just got a lot tougher", Kyra said.

  "We're being hailed", Angie said.

  "No surprise there", I said. "What's our status, Eng?"

  "All systems are online", he said. "The walkway is retracting as we speak, and..." he touched his console, "I've just sounded the call for battle stations." I could hear the whooping alarm echoing throughout the ship below us.

  "How long until we're go for lift?" I asked.

  "Three minutes, tops", he said. "Part of the pressure tent is still up, but it won't hinder our lifting."

  "Is the port area clear of people?" I asked.

  "I sounded the external lift warning two minutes ago", he said. "People are moving as fast as they can, but if you can buy us more time, then please do so."

  "Can't hurt to try", I said. "Answer their hail, Angie."

  "Aye, sir. Onscreen", she said. The main vidscreen lit up with the now familiar image of Captain Helga Danzen.

  "Captain", I said. "What brings you to Triton?"

  "Cut the crap, Doon", she said, obviously not in the mood for small talk. She continued. "I'd rather not fire on you while you're sitting in port, but if you light those engines you're powering up, I won't hesitate to do so."

  "Incoming hail from Governor Arris", Angie said.

  "Hang on a sec, Danzen", I said. "I have another call. Angie, switch it, please."

  Arris appeared on our vidscreen.

  "We're monitoring the conversation between you and the UPDF ships”, he said. "All of our people are clear, and I've just issued an emergency evacuation order for the entire port. Give us a couple of minutes to get as many out as we can, and if you can lift, I say screw em, and lift."

  "You know she's listening in", I said. "I wouldn't put it past her to fire on us."

  "I'm aware she's listening", he said. "As for firing on you in port... I can't believe she'd be that stupid."

  "Then let's do this properly", I said. "Angie, conference all three of us, please. And while you're at it, I want all of this going out live, via our SpeedLink. I imagine there are a lot of people who'll find this interesting."

  "Done", she said, as the view on the main vidscreen split in two, with Danzen on the left, and Arris on the right. I imagined their views were much the same, but with me showing up, instead. Danzen looked even less happy, if that were possible. The two immediately began arguing.

  "This is not your affair, Arris", Danzen said. "Stay out of it."

  "You've just threatened to fire on my city", he said. "And that makes it my affair. Back off and play your games somewhere else, Captain. There are tens of thousands of innocent lives at stake here."

  "Then I suggest you convince Captain Doon to stand down, and surrender", she said. "He's a notorious terrorist, and we cannot allow him to escape."

  "I don't care who's here", Arris said. "If you fire on my port, there will be repercussions. Immediate repercussions."

  "You're threatening a United Planets Defense Force vessel, performing a legal operation", Danzen said.

  "You're the one issuing threats", Arris said. "I'm just apprising you of what will happen if you fire on my port, which, by the way, is a civilian target."

  "If Captain Doon would be so kind as to surrender", she said, "all of this would be a moot point."

  "You know that's not happening", I said. "Allow us to lift, and we'll be happy to take this fight elsewhere."

  "You know I can't allow that", Danzen said. "This ends here."

  "What I know is that you're under orders to get this ship out of our hands at any cost", I said. "Just so you know, this is being broadcast via SpeedLink to what has to be several billion people. Why don't you explain to them and to Governor Arris why getting this ship back is more important than a quarter million lives?"

  "I don't know what you're talking about", Danzen said, and her side of the screen went blank.

  "We're being jammed", Angie said.

  "Try a different channel", Eng said.

  "Everything is jammed", Angie said. "Even SpeedLink."

  "SpeedLink doesn't even have a local signal", Eng said. "How can they jam that?"

  "I imagine someone on the UP ships knows how", Angie said. "I'd ask them, but..."

  "You can't, because we're being jammed", I said, finishing the sentiment. "What about the laser comm unit?"

  "Triton doesn't have one", she said. "The UPDF ships do, but they seem more interested in shooting than talking. They're powering up weapons, incidentally."

  "I think they're about to shoot us where we sit", I said.

  "And risk the bad PR?" Eng asked.

  "Once they've gotten us", I said, "They can spin it however they like. Whatever really happens, you can bet they'll pin the blame on us and Governor Arris."

  "If that's the case, then we might as well lift", Eng said. "I'd just as soon die trying as to die sitting here, doing nothing."

  "Angie", I said. "Get me Cozi."

  "Engineering", Cozi said.

  "What happens if we engage the star drive, right now?" I asked.

  "You can't", Cozi said, "Because right now, we're sitting on the ground."

  "Can't?" I asked. "Or shouldn't?"

  "Jesus", Eng said. "This is a really bad idea."

  "No kidding", Kyra said.

  "You aren't serious, are you?" Cozi asked.

  "I'm just trying to think of something that will save our asses", I said. "Those ships up there are going to fire on us any minute now, and I'd just as soon not be sitting here with my thumb up my ass when they do. Angie, pull everything you can find on transits."

  "Aye", she said. "Got it."

  "Has anyone ever actually tried my suggestion?"

  "If they have, there's no record of it", she said. "Although, I would imagine that DEC has conducted their own experiments."

  "In other words", Kyra said, "There's no record of anyone trying anything that stupid."

  I ignored Kyra, and continued.

  "Cozi", I said, "I need an educated guess. What happens if we engage transit, while sitting here?"

  "Bad things", he said.

  "Yeah, I get that", I said. "I was looking for something a little more specific."

  "Well, bear in mind that I'm an engineer, not a physicist", he said. "From the way I understand it, anything we're in contact with ought to transit with us. There might be power issues preventing that, though."

  "I can't believe that anything the size of Triton could piggyback our transit", I said. “if it does, then we’ll go into business moving moons.”

  "If we survive that long", he said, "You can't think of transits in the same way you'd think of any other sort of movement, where mass and energy are factors. How much power does it take to move a mass from one universe to another? Maybe a lot, maybe very little. T
he mass may not matter at all. I just don't know."

  "So, Triton might go with us, or it might not", I said.

  "Or, we might do like Charon, and simply vanish", he said.

  "They weren't actually transiting", I said. "Besides, they may well have popped back into our universe, or dimension, or whatever it is. They just might be a very long way from here."

  "Or not", Cozi said. "By the way, it's called a brane, not a dimension."

  "What the fuck does it matter?” I said. “I don’t think there’s a difference.”

  "Well, there really isn't one", he said. "But you should at least use the correct nomenclature for ..."

  "Guys", Kyra said, interrupting him. "Is this really the best time for this conversation?"

  "Right", Cozi said. "UPDF up there…tell you what... you lift us off the ground, even just a little, I don't think Triton will be an issue."

  "The second we power up the ramjets", I said, "They're certain to fire on us. And I don't think the ramjets can get us up before they hit us. Ramp up time is what, two minutes?"

  "Thereabouts", Cozi said. "You could trim that considerably though, especially considering we're at only a quarter gee."

  "Trim it to what?" I asked.

  "I dunno", Cozi said. "Thirty seconds, maybe?"

  "Angie?" I asked.

  "That's about what I calculate", she said.

  "How long before their torpedoes can hit us from orbit?" I asked.

  "Eight seconds", Kyra said.

  "What if we just forgo the ramp up entirely, and engage the thrusters at a hundred percent, immediately?" Eng asked.

  "You might blow out the drive nozzles", Cozi said.

  "But it might lift us immediately", Eng said.

  "Possibly", Cozi said. "It still wouldn't be instantaneous, though. This thing is over three hundred tons."

  "Angie?" I said. "What do you think?"

  "I'm figuring an eighty percent chance of drive damage, but we should lift. My best estimate is that we'll lift somewhere between six and twelve seconds, at full thrust."

  "Ouch", I said. "That's cutting it a little close."

  "Beats the hell out of two minutes", Eng said.

  "Okay", I said. "We're doing this. Angie, wait until the last possible moment before you engage the star drive."

  "What if we haven't lifted yet?" she asked.

  "Engage it anyway", I said. "At that point, it really isn't going to matter."

  "Hey, it matters to me", Cozi said.

  "Well, does anyone have a better idea?" I asked.

  "We could just surrender", Eng said.

  "Fuck that", Kyra said. "I'd rather be dead than surrender."

  "My sentiments as well", I said. "On my mark, give the ramjets everything we have."

  "Aye, Sir", Angie said.

  "Three, two, one... go", I said.

  "They're firing missiles", Kyra said, as the whole ship began to shake. We still hadn't moved. "Impact in six seconds. Five, four, three, two..."

  "Transit engaged", Angie said.

  Chapter 38

  "Where are we?" Eng asked, the first one of us to speak. An alarm sounded, cutting off any possible answer, not that I had one.

  “Collision warning”, Angie said, as she stopped the annoying bleating of the alarm. “Shutting down the ramjets, and initiating evasive maneuvers.”

  “Collision with what?” Kyra asked.

  “An asteroid”, Angie said. “Just a big rock, really.”

  “Let me guess”, I said, “We’re back in the Goddamn Asteroid Belt.”

  “Yes, we are”, Angie said. “None of you picked where you wanted us to go, and this was the last place you’d expressed any interest in. Anyway, I had to move us somewhere.”

  “True enough”, I said. “So, what just happened?”

  “We transited”, she said.

  I tried hard not to roll my eyes, and might have succeeded.

  “Well, obviously”, I said. “But, I didn’t feel us lift, and as far as I can tell, Triton didn’t come along with us.”

  “Then we must have lifted”, Eng said.

  “Actually, we didn’t”, Angie said. “We were still on the ground, and I had no choice but to engage the stardrive. It seems to have worked.”

  “Get me Cozi, please”, I said. “He’ll want to hear this.”

  “Aye, Captain”, Angie said. “Got him.”

  “What now?” he asked.

  “Are you aware of what just happened?” I asked.

  “Oh, I’m aware of it”, he said. “We just used a megawatt of power in less than a second. If you plan on doing that again anytime soon, don’t. We don’t have the power for it.”

  “Apparently, the closer we are to a gravity well, the more power it uses”, I said. “We were actually on Triton when we engaged transit, this time. Shouldn’t have been possible, but that was with the old star drives. Guess there are new rules.”

  “No doubt”, Cozi said. “I’d give my left nut to know what they are. I kinda doubt even the DEC engineers tested for some of the things we’ve been doing with their shit. Maybe we should swap our data for an instruction manual.”

  “You know”, Eng said, “It also means we know how to do things with the new drive that the UP ships probably don’t know.”

  “Possibly”, Cozi said. I could almost hear him shrug. “This is a new generation drive. Maybe it’s supposed to do all this new stuff, and we just didn’t know. If that’s the case, we’re not going to want to go into a fight counting on the UPDF not knowing.”

  “Good point”, I said. “Anyway, we did it, and we’re here. We should probably have a quick meeting, and figure out what to do next.”

  “We need a meeting for that?” Kyra asked. She wasn’t the biggest fan of meetings. “We find those bastards, rescue the Defender, after which we defeat the UPDF, and go have a beer. That’s about what you had in mind, right?”

  “I’m aware there’s a little more involved in it than that”, I said. “But yeah, that’s the general idea.”

  “We also need to hit the SpeedLink, and find out what’s going on back on Triton”, she said. “Our escape from the UPDF wasn’t free, you know. Arris and his people took us in, gave us everything we asked for, and more, then the UPDF shows up, and we bug out, leaving them getting bombed. This is not how I like to treat friends.”

  “Me neither”, I said. “But, it’s not as though we had a lot of options.”

  “I’m not saying you chose wrong”, she said. “I just wanted you to remember that our escape came at a price, and someone else had to pay it.”

  “Hard copy on that”, I said. “I hadn’t forgotten.” In reality, while I hadn’t forgotten about Triton, while I was reveling in our getting away, I’d put the fact that they’d probably lost people, as a result of our actions, to the back of my mind. Not the place where you put human lives.

  Or any life, really.

  “Angie”, I said. “Stand down the crew from battle stations. You still there, Cozi?”

  “Still here”, he said.

  “Meeting time”, I said. “We need to come up with some sort of coherent plan.”

  “You may want to delay that meeting”, Kyra said, looking at one of her screens.

  “Please tell me those assholes didn’t follow us here”, I said.

  “They didn’t”, she said. “You said before that our pirate friends had been spotted in this area, more than once, right?”

  “That’s the intel we got”, I said. “You have them on your sensors?”

  “Not exactly”, she said. “But as soon as we got here, I began picking up stray RF noise. Thought there might be a ship lurking nearby, but nope, it’s something else.”

  “I have it, too”, Angie said.

  “One of those big rocks out there isn’t a rock”, Kyra said.

  “So what is it, then?” Eng asked, tapping at his own vidscreen. I pulled up the data on mine, and looked at what she’d highlighted.

 
; “Looks like a rock, on tri-d”, I said. From what I could tell, it was a largish asteroid, about mile in diameter, and nearly five hundred kilometers to our aft.

  “Maybe so”, she said, “but it’s emitting an awful lot of radio frequency for a rock, according to our sensors. I’m detecting electrical, commlink, and even nuclear signatures.”

  “Somebody hiding behind it, maybe?” I asked.

  “Maybe not behind it, but inside of it”, Eng said. “This is like something off of a cheesy vid. I’d bet they hollowed out an asteroid, and stuck their base inside of it. If so, we’ve got us a bona fide secret pirate base. Well, that, or a bunch of miners. They’ve been known to do stuff like this.”

  “Kill the tri-d”, I said. “Just in case it isn’t miners. What are the chances they picked up our scan?”

  “They shouldn’t have”, Kyra said. “You want to sneak up on them?”

  “You bet I do”, I said. “That, and hang around and watch them for a while. See who shows up.”

  “Not a bad idea”, Kyra said, “We eavesdrop on their radio traffic, we might get an idea who and what they are.”

  “This place is like pirate central. My money says it isn’t miners”, I said, smiling at her. “Mister Eng, can you find us a good rock to hide out on?”

  “How far away from the other rock?” he asked.

  “Good question”, I said. “Maybe forty, fifty clicks away?”

  “Angie?” Eng asked.

  “Got one”, she said, almost immediately. The data appeared on our screens. “Unless a ship wanders by close enough to actually see us, we shouldn’t be seen, plus we’ll have a great view.”

  “Make it happen”, I said. “Full stealth mode.”

  “Moving us with just our attitude jets”, Angie said. “It will take us a few hours to get into position, but there won’t be a drive signature from us for anyone to detect.”

  “Sounds fine”, I said. “It’s not like we’re in a big hurry.”

  “We still don’t know what happened on Triton”, Eng said.

  “I can’t raise them on SpeedLink”, Angie said.