Fire and Steel

by Gavin Magson

  That night, as he had done so many times since, Rowan patched Ilya up and lifted her into the bed within her room. He had toyed with the idea of saving the note for a later date; he knew that the pain of losing Ajax was fresh and had respected Duke’s privacy by not reading the note himself. The message might just be the final assault that caused her to snap, and Rowan did not want to see Ilya suffer by his own actions.

  Despite his reservations Rowan had handed over the note and remained silent as Ilya processed the message. When the tears came he had done his best to soothe Ilya, but he had been taken aback when she began to smile.

  Chapter 8

  “We are chasing a ghost out here, captain, are you sure you know what you are looking for?” asked Greg.

  Duke remained silent, taking in a deep breath to quell his frustration. The giant display in front of him showed the ships forward view, which was majority empty space. They had entered the asteroid belt two days ago and, for fear of drifting into one whilst asleep, neither Duke nor Greg had slept in that time. Just his luck that the autopilot would break the moment they came out of hyperspace.

  The lack of autopilot hadn’t been an issue when the early warning system could alert them of anything on a collision course with enough time to react. When they entered the asteroid belt, it meant that Greg was required to make adjustments frequently; it became impossible to drop their guards, even for a moment.

  “It’s been a long time since I last went in search of Troy, long before I had this ship, so I’ll admit it is proving a little more difficult than I anticipated. Just keep a steady course and look out for the biggest fucking asteroid in the belt. You’ll know when we are there, I’d anticipate at least two warning shots before they try to take us down.”

  Duke ignored the look Greg shot him and returned to staring at the image in front of him. He had passed through the nearby system several times since acquiring the Illicit Jane, usually in order to go further out into unpopulated space in search of rare ores and minerals. Always Duke ensured that the ship steered clear of the asteroid belt on the systems outer edge.

  He knew the risk in finding Troy now was a lot higher than in his youth, where he could make three or four runs there in a year without real fear of being caught trading with its the less savoury inhabitants. With Ajax gone and Ilya so distant she may as well be dead Duke’s life was fast falling apart. It had taken time to convince Lev and Greg, and only the promise of a hefty wage for Deborah, that they should seek out Troy when their latest haul had been mined.

  Three tons of Nigrum buried deep within the small asteroids core. Duke had almost fainted when Greg had told him what the asteroid contained; he had never heard of such a large amount of the unstable material being found in one place in all his years. Nigrum, whilst highly priced, typically required dozens of mining expeditions to collect a significant mass of the illusive material.

  Along with the Nigrum there had been enough Tenebris alone to cover the ships expenses and wages for the crew; Duke was looking at ten times that amount if he could find a buyer on Troy for the Nigrum.

  “If you haven’t been to Troy in so many years what makes you think that they are going to allow us entry?” asked Greg.

  “It might have been a long time, but I still have acquaintances on Troy, men and women who would be happy enough to deal with us. I just hope that not much has changed in my absence, and they have the ear of whoever is in charge these days, otherwise this might be a regretful journey.”

  Greg turned back to his monitors and typed out commands that activated the Illicit Jane’s long-range scanners. He watched the right-hand monitor as the display changed from the ships inventory to a readout on the composition of any debris or asteroid within the scanner range.

  He heard the creak of Duke’s chair as the captain stood up to stretch, a muted groan coming from the man as joints snapped and crackled. Greg turned his head when he heard the man approach.

  “I’m going down to the kitchens, I can’t function like this without any energy; do you want me to bring you something back?” asked Duke.

  “Yeah, there’s two packs of stims packed away in my cupboard, could you bring them back with you?”

  “Stimulants? Fuck, are you struggling that much to stay awake?”

  Greg looked his captain in the eyes, seeing the familiar almost blank stare that accompanied fatigue; the same look was mirrored on his own face.

  “Forget I asked, stupid question. I’ll bring them up with some food.” said Duke.

  Once his captain had disappeared down the staircase that lead from the command room Greg tried his best to focus on the readings before him. Several of the nearby asteroids contained ores that would be worth a decent price back on Konar, but the exact quantities on offer were unknown without a deep level analysis. Duke was so eager to reach Troy that Greg knew he wouldn’t consider more mining until they left the supposed safe port.

  Greg blinked rapidly as he felt his eyelids begin to droop and let out a yawn that he could not suppress. He was glad that Duke had not reacted to him bringing stims on board, in light of their search for the city of Troy it looked like Duke did not care about a comparatively minor illegal activity.

  The readout changed page, the green text detailing much smaller debris that was close to the ship. Greg tried to read it but could feel his eyes closing; this time he could not fight it.

  Greg snapped awake as the shrill siren filled the command room with a piercing sound. On the central monitor all he could see was rock as the Illicit Jane came perilously close to an asteroid, the dark frost covered rock taking up more and more of the screen. Behind him Greg could hear the clang of metal steps as Deborah ran up them, shortly followed by a wheezing Duke.

  Greg was too busy trying to steer the ship away from its collision course to process what Duke was shouting at him, but he could tell by the tone that his captain was beyond mere anger.

  “Thank fuck we are here. Deborah, find Lev for me; we all need to be on deck for when we dock.” Duke said, followed swiftly by Deborah turning on the spot and disappearing back out of the room. “I should have come straight back with those stims, good thing you got us this far, Greg.”

  He sat down in his chair and swivelled it towards the screen. He recognised the familiar sight of Troy, or rather the asteroid that contained it, as Greg began to manoeuvre the ship. The siren finally stopped as the ships course was changed, much to both Duke and Greg’s relief.

  Duke tapped several buttons on the controls of his chair and waited as a communications broadcast was setup. A quiet tone signified that he could speak, and Duke held down a small rectangular button on the right arm of his chair.

  “City of Troy, this is Duke Kefo, captain of the Illicit Jane. We request permission to dock in order to market our cargo, and to purchase fuel. There are three crew members and myself on board, we are an unarmed vessel.”

  Duke released the button when he finished speaking and sat back in the padded seat. He tried not to hold his breath, but Duke could feel his heart hammering at his chest, threatening to burst out as he awaited confirmation his message had been received. His mind wouldn’t stop going over his last visit to Troy; Duke was filling with dread that he was no longer welcome.”

  “Are you positive this is the right one?” asked Greg.

  “I could not be more sure, Greg. If they admit us you’ll need to bring the ship around to the furthest side of the asteroid. Don’t worry about having to dock it, that’ll be taken care of for you.”

  Both men stared at the display as the silence stretched on. Duke did not dwell on his doubts, to do so was futile at this moment. He had avoided Troy when close friends had been taken, executed publicly for smuggling, or trafficking, and later just for being associated with Troy. The risk did not outweigh the reward, and he had turned to a more honest life to protect his own.

  “Our scans show no threats to Troy aboard your ship and you have been vouched for, Duke Kefo, by three members o
f the Merchants. Follow docking procedure and report directly to the Bronze Keep.” spoke a voice through the speakers dotted around the room.

  “Fuck, and here I was thinking we would never find this needle in an asteroid belt. So just bring it around to the opposite side of the asteroid?” asked Greg.

  “Yes, nice and slow. Don’t angle directly towards the asteroid until you have reached the other side, and make sure to release the thrusters when the ship is pulled in. I need to find the others before we dock. Do not fall asleep this time.”

  Duke stood up from his chair and set the two packs of stimulants down next to the console Greg worked at. He left the room, taking the metal staircase slowly as he tried to think who the three that had vouched for him were. If Caitlyn and Jensen were still alive he was certain that they would vouch, but a third eluded him. He pushed the thought from his mind when he stepped into the corridor and almost collided with Lev.

  “Deborah said that you wanted me up in the command room. What’s happening, boss?” asked Lev.

  “We are docking any moment now, Lev, so all of us need to be ready for Troy. I don’t want you taking any weapons with you, its neutral territory and if there is anyone who still holds a grudge against me then carrying a weapon will only make matters worse. When I was last there Troy was governed with zero tolerance to violence, and the lucky ones were those banished for life.”

  “If you say that it is better to go in there unarmed I won’t let you down. Deborah went back to her bunk to grab a credit chip, she said that she would not be long. Do either Greg or I need to bring anything, apart from ourselves?”

  “No, we will be sleeping here tonight, and I have credits to cover our meals whilst there. I would advise against taking a credit chip with you, most of what you can buy in Troy that you can’t on Konar will see you imprisoned or worse back home. Go check on Greg, I need to grab a sample of Nigrum to show to any prospective buyers.”

  Lev nodded at Duke before heading up towards the command room, his long legs allowing him to take the stairs three at a time. Duke continued walking along the corridor until he reached the elevator that would take him down to the ships hold.

  The journey down, though no faster, was considerably smoother than it had been over the years that Duke had owned the Illicit Jane. Some of Ajax’s donation had gone towards ensuring that Duke and his crew members were a lot safer on board, with essential repairs on all of the ship’s elevators carried out.

  The doors opened without protest when the elevator stopped, Duke stepped out into the renovated observation room. If he concentrated Duke could still remember the sight of a half dismantled asteroid filling the hold, and an outcrop forming that went untouched by the Spiders. It still seemed like no time had passed since that day, yet it had been almost a full year since Duke had rescued the skeletal figure so close to death.

  Duke shook his head, clearing it of thoughts of Ajax; now was not the time for remembering him. He turned right, walking towards the furthest wall. Set into the bare metal wall was a chute that lead deeper into the ships bowels and was accessed on the other end by an automated arm that could cut and package samples of anything within storage.

  Duke pulled down the clear screen to seal access the chute, which unlocked the control panel on the left side of the opening. The raw Nigrum, since it had such a low density in its unprocessed state, had managed to fill a quarter of the primary storage bins set underneath the hold. Duke selected a sample to be taken from the first bin and waited whilst the arm moved into position, its movements shown on the basic display above the control panel.

  It had been a long time since Duke had managed to fill all of the ship’s storage during a voyage, and the money he could raise from the current stock would ensure he had the equipment to do so on future voyages. There were several factors to blame for this, the most prominent being the fall in cost of light matter drives.

  Light matter drives allowed independence from the monopoly that hyper gates held over transport and mining ships, except retrofitting the drives was known to be so costly that a new ship could, in some cases, be built for less money. Since Duke would never be able to raise the capital to purchase a new ship, he had been left behind by those that could. The good news, for him, was that Nigrum was the primary material used in the production of light matter fuel, as such it attracted no end of potential customers due to its value.

  He had far more competitors now than twenty years ago, and the technology that these new ships possessed saw hauls brought in with comparative ease. Only his willingness to travel further than most captains allowed Duke to still remain operational against such advances. Trading with Troy was something he had told himself would not happen again, but Duke was sick of struggling to keep his ship, and his crew, and he was prepared to face that risk.

  Despite the protective screen Duke heard the whoosh of air as a metallic cylinder was pushed up the chute until it hit a stopper just above the opening and was caught by a tray that folded underneath it. Duke pulled up the screen and gingerly picked up the cylinder and was caught off-guard by just how light it was. He walked back to the elevator and stepped inside whilst inspecting the cylinder in his hands. He was relieved that there was no marking to identify his ship etched into the surface; he would not purposefully make it easy for the authorities to suspect him of illegal trading. Duke pushed the topmost button and felt the familiar lurch as he began to ascend.

  Chapter 9

  Greg released the control sticks he gently gripped in either hand as the Illicit Jane was caught by a tractor beam. He knew little about how tractor beams operated, there had never been cause for one to be used on a ship he piloted, but Greg could appreciate that if he did not disengage the thrusters it would cause a devastating opposing force capable of tearing the ship in two.

  He had heard of beams strong enough to steer smaller asteroids into a ships hold, but typically great skill was required to ensure that both ship and asteroid were travelling at similar speeds, and then to use the ships reverse thrusters to decelerate and stabilise the asteroids trajectory. An asteroid was far more predictable than a piloted ship, but there were many things that could go wrong with manipulating an asteroid; he had experienced that first hand.

  Whatever technology Troy had at its disposal there seemed little issue in altering the ships course, and Greg could now see where he was being guided towards. The rock face had parted, revealing a cavernous area hollowed out from the monolithic asteroid that he presumed acted as an airlock for any ships. To call this an asteroid was to discredit all that the Illicit Jane had hunted; Troy was closer to a moon.

  As the image grew larger in front of him Greg could identify the banks of turrets positioned either side of the airlock, their barrels manoeuvring to track the Illicit Jane’s approach. The wide bore suggested the turrets would make short work of the mining tug.

  Lev and Deborah sat towards the room’s rear, transfixed by the same image that Greg stared at. Neither had spoken for several minutes; he assumed they were not aware that he was no longer navigating the ship, so distracted were they by the alien sight before them.

  When the ship had passed the outer wall it closed behind them, and the Illicit Jane came to a steady halt, suspended as all they could see was plunged into darkness. For what seemed an age the crew waited impatiently for movement, or communication from Troy.

  The ship rumbled as an inner wall split in half, opening before their eyes to reveal the asteroid city of Troy. They were pulled inwards and the trio looked on in marvel at what was before them.

  The city of Troy, founded in the early days of Konar’s expansion into neighbouring solar systems, inhabited the centre of the asteroid. As the Illicit Jane was pulled inwards the crew were able to see the docks far below them, housing a multitude of sleek vessels more fitting for evasion and a swift escape.

  The city itself was carved into the walls, a multitude of levels connected by a spiralling road that was currently handling dense traff
ic on each of its sections. A translucent inner wall sealed in the city, and as the ship was moved closer Greg was able to see the honeycomb arrangement of the crystal that formed it. At first he had thought the wall merely kept the atmosphere inside the city, but it became apparent that large polygons formed from yellow tinted Duro crystal were joined to create the protective wall. Duro crystal was renowned for its properties under large stress; its resistance to stress increased rapidly the more it was placed under and was ideal for protecting from explosive weaponry.

  “It’s a sight to behold, I can’t believe just how much it has changed over the years.” said Duke as he stepped into the room.

  The crew remained silent as their ship descended into the city’s bowels, still under influence from the tractor beam. When they were positioned directly above the docks the tractor beam released its hold on their ship, allowing it to freefall until a bank of anti-gravity thrusters on the floor of the asteroid fired and eased the Illicit Jane into a dock alongside two smaller crafts. Only when all movement finally stopped did Duke speak once more.

  “On arrival we will be escorted to the Bronze Keep, the largest building on the top level. It is customary for new arrivals to go before the King of Troy; being vouched for only allows you to dock for the night, the King alone will decide if we are fit to wander his city. When I was last here Yadriel still ruled over Troy; I have not heard whether this is still the case, but do not utter his name until I can confirm who is King.

  “Wait until the King speaks directly to you, only then are you allowed to speak in his presence; it would be unwise to piss off such a powerful man. Troy can be a strange experience for newcomers, they respect the old ways more so than anywhere I have been before.”

  “King of Troy? I thought that King Diamond was the only man allowed to bear such a title?” asked Deborah.