“All right, I guess we’ll just fly around and try not to die.”
“Exactly.”
“So much help…”
“I do try.”
“Bishop, cut engines and drift to port about ten degrees.”
I did as I was asked. “What am I looking for?”
“You’ll see. I believe you will be quite excited by my findings.”
“I’ll be the judge of th—holy shit…”
“Agreed.”
In front of us floated the carcass of an older mining ship. A real mining ship. And attached to the bottom was one of the largest mining lasers I’d seen in a while. It looked like there had been several, but they’d been destroyed.
“This one made it. Somehow…”
“I do believe this is where you take a step outside.”
I was halfway out of my harness and latching my helmet onto my suit. I applied some more patch tape to my chest. Just in case. “Remind me to replace this suit. I don’t know how much I trust this patch job.”
“Noted. Do hurry before we are discovered.”
“On my way.” The suit pressurized, and all the indicators flashed green. “Radio check?”
“Loud and clear,” responded Sami through the helmet’s comms unit
“All right, I’ll grab my tools and go get us a new toy.”
Sami depressurized the ship and opened the hatch. I stood in the doorway, the old mining ship meters from me. A light hop and I floated across the gap. The laser was even larger up close. It was mounted by four large bulkhead fasteners. They were as big around as my wrist.
“How are we going to attach this to the Gilmore?”
“Likely, you will need to weld it. Thankfully, it does not need to be pretty, only functional.”
“Understood.”
I removed the bulkhead fasteners with a large impact wrench. I had to use the magnetic braces to fasten the wrench to the hull as the bolts were secured with so much torque that it would fling me away from the hull.
It took nearly twenty minutes to remove the fasteners and the wire harness. A tug on the laser and it floated freely from the hull it had been connected to. I gave it a nudge toward the Gilmore. It began to float away. I cut the harness connector off the derelict ship and placed it in my toolbox along with the impact wrench. Then I pushed off myself.
I made it back to the Gilmore just before the mining laser. Thankfully, everything weighed a lot less without gravity getting in the way. The laser slowed as I pushed against it. Carefully, I guided it to the hull of my ship and lined it up where I thought it should be.
“How’s that?” I asked.
“Move it forward ten centimeters.”
I made the adjustments and then used magnetic clamps to hold it against the hull. “I wish there were mounting points. I hate bulkhead welding…”
“Less complaining, more welding. I am detecting radio transmissions from space aimed toward our general vicinity.”
“Expecting company?” I asked as I broke out the welding equipment and connected it to the ship’s power supply.
“Always. It’s only a matter of time before someone either comes to check on us or comes to raid us. Call it an unwritten rule, if you wish.”
That didn’t make me feel better. I spent the next thirty minutes welding the mining laser’s feet to the upper bulkhead on the Gilmore. The wiring was actually quite simple in comparison. Three power connectors and a data cable later, it was ready for a test.
I headed back inside the ship and pressurized the cabin before removing my helmet. “I really hope this works. The wiring was too simple, and it doesn’t have an external port to dump the ore.”
“The most efficient things in existence usually are. Do not doubt it’s ability for having been designed properly.”
“I suppose not. Hopefully, I can adapt some sort of connection to the main tanks later on. The cargo canister on it can hold quite a bit, but I’d prefer a larger capacity.”
“Things to consider later on. For now, you have a test to complete.”
“Okay, here we go. Let’s hope we don’t blow out a power conduit or something…”
I targeted the nearest hunk of debris which somewhat resembled the husk of a long-dead ship. The Gilmore’s lights dimmed momentarily. Then the hum of the mining laser filled the cabin. The beam cut through the ship’s outer armor like a scalpel. I watched with pride as the glowing blue bits of molten reactor fuel drifted up the beam. I swung the beam around and nearly cut the husk in half.
“That has some major potential as a weapon. I am impressed,” said Sami.
“This is what I did with the drones.”
“It is an effective strategy.”
“And we get fuel,” I added.
“Bishop, I’m detecting movement in the debris field. It would be prudent for us to leave sooner than later.”
I caught a glimmer of engine glow off in the distance. “I see them. Yeah, I don’t want to fight anyone just yet.” I flipped the Gilmore around and pushed the engines to their maximum setting. The ship lurched forward. We weaved around hunks of ships trying to put distance between us.
“They are no longer flying randomly.”
“Straight for us?”
“Straight for us. If you do not wish to engage, you should not slow down.” A large hunk of debris to the right of the ship exploded. Shrapnel peppered the hull of the Gilmore. “Roll left.”
Without hesitating, I slammed the levers to the left. My stomach tightened as the debris field spun at dizzying speeds. I had to fight to keep my food down. Around us, more explosions lit up the canopy window.
“This guy’s good,” I said between breaths. “I don’t know if I can shake him.”
“I’ve analyzed his attack patterns. The ship’s movements are quite precise. They match those of the pirate attack a few days past.”
“Military A.I.?”
“I would presume that is correct. I advise extreme caution,” said Sami. “Searching for possible escape strategies.”
“So much for overwhelming intelligence,” I scoffed.
“Had your brain been more apt for a higher percentage on the compatibility scale, we would not be having this conversation. You are the weak link.”
“Gee, thanks.” I rolled the ship in the opposite direction as more explosions detonated around us. “I’m completely open to any suggestions that help us survive,” I shouted.
“I do have one potential course of action; however, it will stress your body. And it will tip your hand. The enemy will know about my presence afterward.”
“At this point, the other option is death. Worth the risk.”
“Understood. Diverting all nonessential power to the maneuvering thrusters.” The heating system went quiet as the lights dimmed. The gravity plates shut off. Oh no… “When I signal, cut engines for one-half second. Pull back hard while spinning, then reengage engines. If you do not pass out, you will have a brief moment to drain his reactor.”
“How brief?”
“Do not hesitate nor miss. You will not get a second chance. Your window is fast approaching. I hope you are ready. For both our sakes.”
“I’m ready.” The mining laser was still charged from testing. I centered the target indicator in the middle of the monitor.
“Take a deep breath and hold it.”
The second my lungs filled, the ship spun three directions at once. The stars streaked by in the windows, further adding to the disorientation. Vertigo. I didn’t have it, but I might as well have. My vision shrank to a dark tunnel, far away. Something glowed. Then there was an explosion. Someone was yelling my name.
Sami. Sami was yelling at me. I couldn’t make out what he was saying. Another bright flash and boom barely registered. I couldn’t move my body. The stars stopped spinning, and my body wrenched in the harness. Someone needed to learn how to fly the ship. Then everything came into focus. A ship was flying straight at us, guns blasting.
&nbs
p; I lined up the target indicator with the central mass of the ship and fired. A beam of yellow energy streaked out and slammed into the oncoming ship. Glowing blue globs of molten reactor fuel flowed up the beam and into the storage canister on the mining laser. As soon as the fuel stopped flowing, I cut the power.
The beam dissipated. With its power depleted and its engines offline, the ship continued on its last course. Sami guided us slightly off its trajectory and allowed it to float by undisturbed.
“We should head back,” said Sami. “It will only be a matter of time before his friends arrive.”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah. Let’s go.
7
As soon as the hatch slid open, someone punched me in the belly. I went down to my knees, wheezing and trying to catch my breath. My stomach burned. I couldn’t inhale or exhale. I looked up to see Anne standing over me, shoulders heaving, tears in her eyes. She stomped off a few feet away.
“Well, that was mildly entertaining,” said Sami with a slight chuckle.
“What the hell were you even thinking?” bellowed Steve. He picked me up by my shirt and pinned me to the wall. “Well?”
I gulped down as much air as I could. “If I’d known you’d be this upset, I’d have taken my chances with the pirates.” Steve frowned. “There was no sense risking you or Anne. Either it was going to work or it wasn’t. If I got caught, then at least you two would still be free.”
“That’s a bullshit excuse, and we both know it.”
I squared my shoulders and set my jaw. “It’s the only explanation you’re getting out of me. Now, put me down,” I said firmly. Steve’s expression changed to shock. He released me and I sagged to the deck plating.
“What happened to you?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You…seem different. I can’t put my finger on it, but you’ve changed.”
“I was only gone for three days.”
“Steve’s right, there’s definitely something different about you.”
“Nothing’s different. I’m just seeing things a bit more clearly is all.”
Anne raised an eyebrow. “Tell us what happened.”
“Okay, but first, I need food.”
I cooked up two ration meals while I told Steve and Anne what happened on the colony ship. Anne was taken aback and not at all pleased. Steve mostly nodded, rarely asking for clarification.
“So,” I said. “Did you ever spend a lot of time in the slums?”
“I stayed there for about a year after Dad died. I ended up moving in with my sister after I got beat up real good by the pirates.”
“Why did they beat you up? I mean, besides the obvious…”
Steve scoffed. Then his face grew serious. “They were trying to rape a friend of mine. I bought her enough time to get away, but I paid a pretty big price for it.” He lifted his shirt. Scars I’d never seen crisscrossed his torso. Deep, ugly scars.
“Holy shit, man. I’m sorry, I never knew.”
“Don’t worry about it. I was fifteen when it happened. It’s behind me.” Steve looked up at the top of the Gilmore. “So…where’d this beauty come from?”
“I found it on some wreckage out in the fields.”
Anne gasped. “You went to the fields? By yourself? Are you crazy? There’s patrols and, worse, pirates!”
“Oh, I’m aware.”
Anne glared at me. “Bishop. What aren’t you telling us.”
“I ran into that pirate who tried to take us out last week.” That got both of their attention. “I was testing the new mining laser. Sami noticed them first. I saw the engine glow a few seconds later. We bailed as soon as we spun the ship around. Then he started firing. I managed to avoid the blasts, but without the debris field to cover us, we’d be sitting ducks. So we spun around and siphoned his reactor dry.”
“Any idea who this guy is?” asked Anne.
I shook my head. “No clue. But Sami and I are both positive whoever it is has the same technology though. And,” I hesitated, unsure whether I should mention anything. “I’m pretty sure after that maneuver he knows I do as well.”
Steve frowned. “No more element of surprise.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Was that or die, though.”
“Still, it was the right call.
“Yeah, just sucks because next time he’s going to be ready for me. That trick won’t work a second time.”
“The Gilmore is going to need actual weapons. Maybe we should take the Grey Wolf to the fields?”
“Too risky. They’d see it on their sensor net.”
“Yeah, but that pirate would leave you alone.”
“Until the colonial fleet showed up,” I said with a chuckle.
“Yeah,” agreed Steve. “Any other ideas?”
“We’ll think of something. In the meantime, Sami managed to hack into the colonial network. Hopefully, we’ll be able to start making some repairs to their systems.”
I turned to Anne. “How’s the Strider?”
Anne’s face lit up for the first time in days. “Ready to go.” She beamed. “Sami also upgraded the navigation and energy control systems. Now she can turn on a bolt head and stop almost as fast.”
I smiled. “You were feeling homesick, weren’t you?”
“Maybe a little. The Strider’s been our home for almost two decades. Didn’t you miss her just a little?”
“I guess I’ve been so wrapped up in things that I hadn’t given it too much thought. But now that you mention it, yeah. The Gilmore isn’t exactly a homey ship.” I started munching on the meal rations as we talked.
“It’s come a long way from the clunker you brought back a few days ago. I’m impressed, Bishop Jones. You and that ship have both grown.”
“Are you saying I should keep it after this is all done?”
“Why not? It’s a decent ship. And an extra ship would be handy. Especially with the Grey Wolf as a base; it could be super profitable in the long-term.”
Steve nodded. “I like that idea quite a bit.”
“That’s all assuming we survive the next few days,’ I said. “Don’t forget, the entire colonial military is after us.”
“Yeah…” said Steve. “We’ll have to deal with that.”
“Sooner than later,” said Anne. “I don’t know if I can deal with looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”
I smiled. “Yeah I don’t think any of us can. We’ll get it worked out.” A beep from a nearby console caught my attention.
“Bishop,” called Sami. “There’s something I wish to show you.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Please don your neural interface gear. It’s something I’ve discovered inside the colonial network.”
“All right, give me a few minutes to finish eating.”
Fifteen minutes later, I stood in darkness. I could feel some sort of solid surface below my feet, but there was nothing there.
“Sami?” I called out. My voice echoed all around me.
“I’m here,” he said as his body materialized. He waved a hand in front of him, and a massive table appeared before us. A giant schematic took up the entire surface. Most of the rooms were red, yellow, or purple.
“Is this the colony ship network?” I asked.
“Indeed, it is,” he said somberly. “Tell me what you see.”
I looked at the schematic for several minutes. Labels appeared on the rooms as I scanned over them. “These are viral infections, aren’t they?”
Sami nodded. “Yes.”
I sighed. “We’re going to need help…”
Steve looked incredulous. “You want us to do what?”
“You and Anne need to be our eyes and ears while Sami and I hunt down the viral infections and destroy them.”
“How exactly are we supposed to do that?”
“I think it’s time we visited the main bridge,” I said.
We left the cargo bay and followed the map Sami had shown me. It took alm
ost ten minutes of walking through corridors to arrive at the large metal door to the bridge. I typed in the new code Sami had installed in the system, and the doors ground open. Room lighting slowly gained brightness until the bridge was fully lit.
“Wow,” said Anne. “It’s beautiful…”
Steve was speechless as he stared out the viewports onto the lunar surface which stretched for miles.
“This will do quite nicely,” I said. Multiple monitors were mounted above many of the stations, and the walls in the back were covered as well. “Sami, can you hear me?”
“Yes, quite clearly. Are you ready?”
“Do it.”
“With pleasure.”
Every monitor on the bridge blinked to life. Schematics of the colony ship filled the back wall. The viral infections were highlighted and labeled according to their threat level. Line segments linked systems together, color coded by importance. Small triangles showed the direction of network traffic as it propagated throughout the entire colonial network.
“Holy shit…” breathed Steve. “What is all this?”
“This is the colony ship’s network,” I said.
“And more importantly,” said Sami, “every viral infection in said network.”
“This is bad,” said Steve
I put my hand on his shoulder. “It gets worse… Elyssa’s evidence is in there somewhere. And we have to find it.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Just watch our backs. If I get nailed in there, it’ll do massive brain damage.”
“So, you’re saying you’d be fine?” I gave Steve the bird. He laughed.
“You ready for this then?”
“Yeah,” he said. He turned to Anne. “You?”
She nodded. “Be careful, Bishop. You too, Sami. Go show those viruses who’s boss.”
“Yes, ma’am!” we responded.
We returned to the colonial network blueprints inside the neural link. Our armor-clad bodies glowed with subtle power.
“Sami, do we have a chance at all of succeeding?”
“Yes.”
Bishop's Ultimatum Page 5
