Bounty's Call

by Max Jager

  Who was he fooling?

  "No," he finally replied glumly. "If Fleet is set on a war against Draconia, they'll never pass up on an opportunity like this. We may have convinced Rappel and Torik, but we could never do that with Command."

  They lapsed into silence again.

  "So that's it, then?" Madeira said. "You've decided to side with Gibraltar? Give them the advantage?"

  Jameson shrugged. "I think I always knew I was going to pick them over Draconia. Madeira, they're my country."

  She nodded, no hint of disgust in her features. He had feared that now she knew the truth about Helios-One, she might hate him for supporting Gibraltar. Knowing the innocent lives they would use the WMD against.

  "I can understand your choice, Jameson," she replied somberly. "Hell, Aquarius is a Gibraltarian world. If it were my choice, I'd want to protect my family."

  She scooted forward, reaching out across the divide to take his hands in hers. "I know this is a hard call to make. You don't have to feel alone in this."

  Jameson exhaled deeply. "It's either them or us?"

  Madeira nodded slowly. "Either them or us."

  Jameson stared into those pale blue eyes of hers, seeing the understanding she possessed. She really did appreciate how difficult this was; that there wouldn't be an easy or right answer. And she wasn't judging him for it.

  He smiled, and she returned it.

  Then Mathison spoke up. "Or maybe not."

  Both heads shot up, as if expecting to make eye contact with the mischievous AI.

  "What if I were to tell you both that there is actually a third option?"

  MAD

  Chapter 26

  M.A.D.

  * * *

  Draconian Space

  Entering Domitia Star System

  * * *

  Jameson lowered his faceplate, bathing the launch bay in muted darkness.

  His HUD flared to life, connecting him to the Crimson's systems. Checking through a series of hardware boot-ups, he felt a series of clicks and a hiss of pressure as his armor locked down. His cybernetics networked with the now space-grade armor and an anti-debris force field crackling to life. It sent waves of static over his skin.

  "Ten minutes to Domitia Star System entry," Mathison spoke in his ear. "Feeling snug in there?"

  Jameson grunted, checking the magazines on his weapons. Full charges around.

  "I'd be a little more comfortable if I could pilot the skiff in."

  "We'll be lucky as it is if the platform's defenses don't peg you as a spacecraft."

  Jameson understood. They had already discussed this anyway. He just didn't like the idea of having to approach the station as a lone man in space.

  Jameson was used to extravehicular activity walks—EVAs. He had trained more than a few times as an officer in the Fleet, and had run more than a few ops as a bounty hunter pursuing targets in space. But those were always the trickiest, and despite years of living with null gravity available as quickly as pushing off the floor, Jameson knew the dangers from space.

  Especially making a combat entry. His armor's shields would protect him from tiny pebbles and other ballistics. But against energy weapons, they were useless; woefully underrated. Having gotten close enough to scan Axus's command cannon, they were alone in the uninhabited Domitia system. No backup; no other defenses. Just a lone cannon and Axus.

  And of course the Draconia patrols that were currently tailing the Crimson.

  "Madeira," Jameson began, calling through their comms to where she was seated on the bridge, "how far behind us are those warships?"

  "About thirty light minutes, give or take." She didn't sound worried, though. "We slipped past them pretty well."

  "Then we'll make this quick."

  Jameson finished reviewing the rest of his gear, running final diagnostics. Really, he had checked all of his gear twice before. But in case something had changed or had been damaged in the last few minutes, they would have to scrub the attack. Not that it mattered; they had one shot, and if Jameson's earlier preparations had missed something, then Axus had already won.

  Part of Jameson was tempted to just forget anything dangerous and just go ahead with the attack. He wasn't even certain if he was going to make it out alive. But he would never tell Madeira that part. As far as she was concerned, the plan allowed her to double back and pick him up. He just didn't expect her to have anything to pick up when she came back.

  It'll kill her…but it might have to be this way. Axus may defeat me once again. I just have to make sure I take him with me.

  Jameson stood up straight, startled as the bay doors opened. Madeira strolled in, this time wearing a flight suit over her kadvair for a change. Jameson hoped the Crimson saw very little of the action, but at least she was prepared in case things got hairy. Still, what was she doing down here?

  "You should be on the bridge," he grunted.

  She ignored the comment, bringing up one of the cybernetic diagnostic tools Jameson kept in the med bay. He felt a surge of static as she began wirelessly checking over his augments.

  "Meh, Mathison is flying the damn toaster. We'll be fine."

  Jameson exhaled, relaxing as she continued to fidget with him. She seemed intent to touch him wherever she was scanning, despite the fact that he was bundled up inside his hardened armor. As if she could somehow sense through the plated material to the various circuits and machinery in his flesh.

  "You'll be taking command of the ship when I'm gone."

  "Like I said," she repeated, still focused on her task, "I'll be relying mostly on Mathison. I can work some of the operations and even a few of the weapons, but that's it."

  "Then we'll train you. You should be able to pilot the Crimson just as well as Mathison or I."

  She smiled silently, continuing to work away. Jameson didn't want to say that if he didn't make it, then Mathison would have to train her so that she could take over. He didn't know where she would go or what she would do, but he knew she would like the prospect of learning how to pilot a starship.

  She had wanted so badly to go into space in the first place. Now she could go anywhere.

  "But I'm not worried," he finally said aloud. "I'm the one that has to get past the cannon's auto-defenses. That and make sure I'm ready when you loop back to pick me up."

  "We'll be fine."

  She finished her diagnostics, standing up straight to face him. Out of habit now, Jameson retracted his faceplate, making eye contact with her.

  "You have Mathison's insertion tech?" she asked.

  Jameson patted the compartment in his armor where the adapter was located. It would provide him instant wireless access to the platform's mainframe to hack in. It was very important that it not get damaged. Really, nothing else mattered except that wireless adapter.

  The whole plan depended on it.

  "Then you're all ready," she finished, pulling him into a warm hug. Even in his bulky space armor, Jameson felt the warmth in it. And for some reason, he really hoped this wasn't a goodbye-forever-hug.

  "When this over," he said, pulling away, "we'll go wherever you want. Anywhere in the galaxy."

  She shook her head, and Jameson saw a flash of uncertainty in her features. "Just make it back alive. We'll worry about that when you're safely back on the Crimson."

  "One minute!" Mathison cut in.

  Jameson exhaled, sorting through the words in his mind. "Look…no matter what happens…even if I don't make it back to the rendezvous."

  He saw her flinch at the mention of that.

  "I'm still glad we had this time. Together." He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "It helped me not become a monster like Axus."

  She laughed, turning to leave. Mathison had started the warning klaxons that announced decompression was about to take place in the bay. Madeira paused on the threshold of the bay doors.

  "Jameson, you never were a monster. And you were never like Axus…"

  The doors sealed
behind her, and Jameson was left alone in the bay room as decompression began.

  Maybe not now, but in another time that never existed, I was a destroyer of worlds.

  This time will be different.

  A shudder trembled through the room; the Crimson had just slipped in system, dropping out of the Lauritzen field into regular speeds.

  "Ball sack!" Madeira cried out over the comms. "Those patrol ships are catching up fast."

  "We better step up the timetable," Mathison added. "Fifteen seconds to EVA!"

  Madeira started the countdown, and Jameson quickly gathered the last of his gear. It wasn't much. He felt a little flustered. They were supposed to move in slow to avoid triggering any alert from the cannon platform. But maybe the Crimson could draw its attention as Jameson slipped into space.

  Taking a deep breath, he heard Madeira hit zero. The exterior bay doors burst open and the vacuum of space grabbed Jameson in a tight hug, sucking him once more into the void.

  Before him, the Domitia system unfolded. Less than a kilometer in front of him, the Strategic Cannon platform hung suspended in space like a giant mounted turret, stapled to an invisible surface. The design was a lot bulkier than the sleeker Gibraltar counterparts Jameson had grown up seeing scattered across the Republic. Somewhere deeper in system, the sun glowed a bright white, forcing Jameson's faceplate to automatically polarize. There were no planets, moons, or other celestial bodies in this part of the system. It was just him, the cannon, and now the Crimson streaking over his head.

  The platform's defenses did indeed burst to life, going haywire at the sudden appearance of the Crimson. Several bright bursts of light trailed into space. But the Crimson Night was a fast little ship, and it outran every last burst of weapons fire. And as it zipped past the cannon, Jameson breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed entirely focused on the fleeing starship. His tiny figure was too small to be a threat to the bulky WMD.

  A moment later, space rippled around the Crimson and it vanished into the night, jumping back into a Lauritzen field. Jameson didn't even spot the Draconian patrol ships slow to sublight speeds. They were still chasing it back out system.

  So far so good.

  With a straight shot for the cannon, Jameson engaged his armor's microburst jets, slowing his speed. He didn't need to smash into the side of the platform like a bug on a windshield. His armor's internal computer made the right corrections.

  Soon Jameson was slowing to a crawl, his feet touching down gently against the exterior hull. Up closer, the absolute size and magnitude of the cannon almost overwhelmed him. It was easily half a kilometer long from base to barrel. Thankfully, he had only to access the pressurized command compartment within the platform.

  "I've got good news," Mathison's voice crackled into his ear. "Gibraltar Fleet Command apparently got the message we sent through Torik and Rappel. They're ready and awaiting the signal."

  Jameson laughed in spite of himself. It worked. Gibraltar was still willing to trust him, even after supposedly putting out an arrest warrant for his snooping through their dirty secrets.

  Everything was going according to plan.

  "Good," he replied. "They took the bait."

  Jameson worked his way along the cannon's hull, his armor's clingers keeping him pinned to the surface. It didn't take long to find an airlock, which surprisingly let him in without much prompting. Either security was exceptionally lax, or he was expected.

  Somehow, Jameson suspected that it was the latter.

  Once through airlock and decom, Jameson kept his armor pressurized. Knowing Axus, he probably had traps waiting to suck him back into space. It didn't take long to navigate the simple hallways to the main fire control room. The deeper into the platform Jameson wandered, the more he was convinced everything here was meant to be automated; there would be no need for a stationed garrison to maintain the damn thing.

  Which meant it was just going to be him and Axus.

  The bulkhead doors outside the fire control room once more opened without any prodding. They parted smoothly, revealing a massive, circular shaped room. It wasn't very wide; maybe thirty or forty meters across, but it easily extended a hundred meters overhead. A bright column of ionized energy pulsed from an open hole in the floor, streaking up through a higher outlet far beyond.

  It seemed the Draconians preferred to watch as they fired destructive bolts of energy into space.

  The fire control room was also divided into three levels, a platform rising up above the floor Jameson had walked in on, and a third platform lowered beneath that. Various terminals and control modules lined each platform, leaving plenty of shadows and blind spots. There were too many places to hide.

  As if on cue, Axus's cackle rose loudly, echoing off the massive chamber from some unseen source. Jameson instinctively drew his firearm, pausing to scan across the immediate visible area for any signs of danger.

  "And the undead have returned once more!" Axus called out, his voice distant. "Jameson, my boy! Welcome to the show. We're about to burn Gibraltar to cinders. I'm so glad you could be here for this moment."

  Jameson decided to try the upper platform. Ignoring Axus's jests, he scurried around up a ramp way, moving carefully so as not to expose himself. Up close, he could see now it was worse. The terminals and workstations were armored and hardened, as well as nearly three meters tall. He couldn't see more than a few meters in either direction around the bulky equipment.

  Axus cackled again, though Jameson wasn't sure if it was coming from above or somewhere below. There was enough of a gap in the center of the platform between the energy beam that he could jump down if he wanted to. For all he knew, Axus was somewhere below, his voice wafting up above.

  "Guns? Really Jameson?"

  Jameson started making a loop around the upper platform. Still no sign of the bastard.

  "I very much doubt this final fight is going to go down with firearms. I think we both know a final match of Likuji is in order."

  Jameson finished his first loop, seeing no evidence of Axus. True, he could be somewhere walking around on the other side, keeping his distance. But there weren't any active terminals up here; nothing that suggested he was actually working on this platform.

  Jameson wandered up to the edge of the central ring, hoping to spy down below. Axus suddenly came into view, leaping up over the edge. Jameson barely had time to react, jumping back as the man reached out at him violently with outstretched hands.

  Jameson tumbled to his back, Axus thankfully soaring over him. Jameson scampered to his feet, but not fast enough before Axus had landed a solid hit on his good arm. Even through the hardened armor, Jameson felt the hit. The man was getting even better at Likuji.

  Jameson spun around to face him, having lost his sidearm in the fray. Axus was wearing an environment suit, but his helmet was down. Obviously there was atmosphere in the fire control room, but only for now.

  The two traded hits, Jameson taking several more strikes that reverberated through his armor. Without it, he would have gone down a long time ago.

  Finally, when Axus rushed him, Jameson dove low, deciding to abandon Likuji all together. He managed to take out Axus's legs, sending him flying over his back and down through the gap in the floor.

  By the time Jameson had stumbled back to his feet, the madman had vanished.

  Jameson tried spying down through the wide gap, hoping to see if he'd fallen onto one of the lower platforms or even all the way down to the bottom of the room forty or fifty meters below. Was it possible he had flown straight into the energy beam?

  Jameson took several panting breaths. His adversary was nowhere to be seen.

  And he didn't have time to go looking for him.

  "Mathison," Jameson stammered into his comms. "I'm uploading your insertion module now."

  He picked the first active terminal, finding an adaptor port on the side. It took a moment for the hardware to reconfigure to the specific input, but a moment later, it accepted t
he outlet and the tech went to work. Jameson glanced over his shoulder, still no sign of Axus.

  "I'm in," Mathison chimed. "Man, this is complex software. Give me some time. I've never had much experience with Draconian military systems."

  Jameson booted up his faceplate speakers, letting the sound permeate the room. He wanted Axus to hear him.

  "Can you do it? Can you sabotage the system?"

  As if on cue, Axus suddenly dove from above, body slamming Jameson against the floor roughly. Jameson did his best to recover from the surprise attack, rolling out from under Axus and skittering to the side, onto his feet. Axus had already recovered, moving forward with attack ready hands. A few strikes quickly drove Jameson back.