by gerald hall
A couple of minutes later, everyone felt a gentle bump as the hull of the 'Dream' made contact with the causeway and came to a halt.
"OK, everybody. I want search parties moving out in ten minutes. I need to know if there is anyone still here, the condition of power systems and life support. If you see anything worth salvaging, record what and where it is, then move on."
Almost as an afterthought, Carole turned to the bridge communications tech.
"Go ahead and send out a message to the Black Diamond. Let them know that we found what we were looking for. We are sending our people out now to evaluate the base and what is inside of it."
“I am going to go out with our search teams, Captain Traeger. I want to make sure that everyone thoroughly searches this station and reports everything that they find. I don’t want people treasure-hunting on their own and not sharing properly what they find with everyone else.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Carole quickly replied. No one wanted to get on the wrong side of the seemingly-ordinary woman standing there on the pirate cargo shuttle’s bridge. This included Carole, the shuttle’s captain.
Sarah then quickly left the bridge to get suited up. Carole was finally able to really breathe only after Commander Bucholtz left.
What Carole and the rest of her crew didn't realize was that she was being watched and that behind one of those closed iris valve doors on the far side of the vast interior chamber was another armed group that had just arrived a few weeks earlier.
Chapter Seventeen:
Jump Tender Alacrity
Inside the former Red Star Collective Base.
YBP 1194 Star System, M 67 Star Cluster, Orion Arm
February 14, 2321
"What are we going to do about these people? Most of our people here are techs, not marines. It already looks like they have us outnumbered not to mention the fact that all of the people that we see on the causeway are armed. Eventually, they are going to find us or at least our presence here, Marty." Sergeant Tony Wallace noted while looking through a set of digital binoculars at the newly arrived Conestoga. He was standing on an observation platform near the repair bay where their jump shuttle and two battlers were currently hidden.
"I know. But we can't launch from within this repair bay with their shuttle sitting right there. We need to sit tight and hope that they get what they want and leave without even noticing us. After all, this is a very large base." Lieutenant Martin Winters, leader of this particular technical team from Alacrity that had been already examining the asteroid base noted wryly.
"True. But we need some means of convincing them to leave without getting into a pitched battle. These people picked one hell of a time to show up with us bottled up inside of here. I know that the boss wants to take their ships. But, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel for those pirates once they find us if we don’t find an edge over them.” No one aboard Alacrity had dared imagine that such a heavily armed group would appear inside of the captured moon before they could get the base defenses fully operational.
Well, no one but Alec Martinson and a few of his closest subordinates. They certainly did believe that their people could handle it. Some of Alec’s people still had their doubts though.
"But we have to do something, Sir." Tony grimaced.
"I know. I also know that even if we could leave, we simply can't afford to leave this base for anyone else to use. The ultimate problem is that our new 'friends' know about it now. According to your report on the base's self-destruct device, we can't even use it to blow the place up because of the damaged base fission reactor. It must have been an integral part of the station self-destruct mechanism."
"Now that Colin has gotten a couple of the fusion reactors running from the disabled ships inside of here, Alec should already have some of the base's weapons operational. We've already managed to get life support running enough for us to breathe here."
"OK. But we need to do something else now since the Captain has decided to stay and fight. These intruders might as well have painted the skull and crossbones on the side of that shuttle. They are obviously pirates based on their behavior and equipment. That makes them a prime target for us to legitimately attack.
So first, we need to be sure to cut the life support to the rest of the base right away before they even step one foot outside of the main chamber. We can't let them know about our activities here any sooner than we possibly have to."
"Maybe we can capture that shuttle right out from under them while it is inside of here, Sir? That should be able to buy us some time to finish our work here. There is something that we can do in the event that they do figure out that they aren't alone here." Sergeant Wallace suggested.
Lieutenant Winters turned to face the stocky gray-haired sergeant.
"What exactly do you have in mind?”
“First, let’s scare the hell out of them. There’s nothing like a healthy dose of confusion and panic to turn the tables on an enemy force. Then, we contain and destroy them.” Sergeant Wallace said with a hungry smile.
“Alright, Sarge. But, you better tell the boss about what exactly you have in mind first though.”
“Of course, Sir. We want to make sure that our people know what is going on so that they can take advantage of a bunch of panicked pirates at the appropriate time. I’m sure that Captain Martinson will not merely appreciate it. He is going to love it!”
Chapter Eighteen:
Inside the Former Red Star Collective Asteroid Base
YBP 1194 Star System, M 67 Star Cluster, Orion Arm
February 14, 2321
"Hello, Lieutenant Traeger. We've already gone through dozens of chambers in here during the last eight hours and have still barely covered a tenth of this base. Our people been forced to keep our suits on because the life support here is barely functional. We've found a couple of hydroponic gardens but they were on their last legs. The same thing goes for the power systems here. We've got no indications of any fusion plants running, but there appears to perhaps be a covert solar power array hidden on the surface of the base that is providing what little power is available. A major accident had to have happened to the fission plant that used to run this place, based on the trace isotopes that we have found all around here." A spacesuited Adam Teach reported.
"Keep on looking out there, Adam. I'm sure that there's something out there worth salvaging. Neither one of us want to meet with Commander Bucholtz empty-handed"
"Oh, we've already found some things, mostly personal weapons and electronics. We've also found some skeletal remains of the crew piled up in what appears to be a makeshift mortuary. We haven't found anything big yet like armored fighting vehicles or fighters in an operational condition, but you never know what is in the next compartment. There are just all of the junked ships sitting in the main chamber."
Adam's report was interrupted by a call from across the bridge. Terri Muldoon had been monitoring something intently on her sensors when she noticed something.
"We're not alone here, Ma'am."
"What do you mean? This place has obviously been abandoned for at least a hundred years, if not a lot longer."
"I'm getting additional communications signals from within the station. There's another group of personnel onboard right now who don't belong to us."
"Do you have a location for those signals, Terri?"
"Yes, Ma'am. They are located here on the other side of the base." The sensor tech pointed at a spot on her screen as she spoke.
"Let's get some people with some 'heavy metal' over there. Find out who else is here and what we can take from them too." Carole loudly called out over the intercom system to her fellow pirates, both on the ship and already out exploring the station.
"Aye, aye, Ma'am!" An eager crew responded, anxious for action after weeks of traveling in deep space without any distractions.
"It seems that we've been found out, Sir." Sergeant Wallace announced after he and Lieutenant Winters saw dozens of heavily
armed personnel streaming out of the mystery shuttle and heading towards Alacrity’s general direction.
"Well, Tony. I guess that you are going to get to try out that hare-brained scheme of yours after all. Go set it off, then get back to work on the rest of those power and weapons systems. I have a feeling that we are going to need them very soon even if we run these beggars out of here with their tails between their legs or if they go out feet first instead."
Three minutes later, the loud sound of klaxons began to fill the entire installation, making it virtually impossible for anyone to communicate without yelling. A recorded monotone female voice was making an equally loud announcement at the same time.
"The Station Self-Destruct function has been initiated. All personnel have thirty minutes to evacuate the station and reach a safe distance prior to detonation. You now have twenty-nine minutes and forty five seconds remaining to evacuate." A dry authoritative female began to announce over the station’s loudspeakers in addition to a virtually all of the frequencies used by short-range radio channels. There was no way that the pirates could have known that the voice was of Alacrity’s AI and that Rita was using her ‘Mother’ voice.
"Oh, Scheisse!" Carole snarled in disgust as she heard the self-destruct warning message that was being broadcast.
"Do you think that they are bluffing, Ma'am?" Terri asked.
"Do you want to wait here and find out? Let's get all of our people back inside and get the hell out of here now. Tell everyone to grab whatever they can on the way back, but don't be late. If they are late, we will leave them behind." An angry and frightened Carole ordered.
"What do we tell the boss?"
"We tell him that someone else knew about this place and managed to beat us to it. They have to be total fanatics though to be willing to set off a nuclear self-destruct device while they are still onboard though."
“What do we tell Commander Bucholtz? She’s out there with our teams, you know.”
“We tell her that we are working the problem. Otherwise, she might decide that we are all expendable, starting with the people on the bridge here.”
The klaxons continued to go off in a deafeningly loud chorus while at the same time that monotone female voice continued to announce the countdown for the nuclear self-destruct device before it was due to detonate.
Angela stopped for a moment and watched the frantic activity of the other pirates as they grabbed anything that they thought could be of value and ran back towards where Dream' had been docked. As she stood there, Angela saw the other pirates running, some carrying containers, others empty-handed except for their weapons, but all in a panic.
"Get moving there, Adam. We only have about ten more minutes left before this place blows." Angela yelled out. The others had not noticed that Angela was the one person visible who was not running back towards the pirate shuttle.
"Did you get those crates that I pointed out?" Dina Carrell asked Adam. She was another one of the pirate soldiers that had been searching the interior of the asteroid when the alarms began to wail.
"Yes. There are a bunch more of them over in the next chamber." Teach yelled over his suit's comlink. He already was carrying one of the large crates using the industrial exoskeleton that he was wearing over his vacuum suit.
"Have you looked inside any of the crates to see their contents before you grabbed them?"
"No. We have just been taking anything that we could get our hands onto. This one is heavy as hell. That's for sure."
Dina shook her head, "Who knows what you have gotten then. But we don't have time to crack them open now. Hurry up. We all need to get out of here ASAP!"
Angela still stood there watching, not entirely sure what she wanted to do. She did not realize that someone else was watching her who also did not want to return to the pirate shuttle.
Hidden Blade had just docked with Black Diamond when the bridge got an urgent message from the 'Dream'. Captain Farrell was the first person to receive Captain Traeger’s message.
"What do you mean 'someone else was already there'?" Jackson growled.
"Yes, Sir. That's what 'Dream' has reported. These other people are apparently preparing to blow up the installation with a nuke as well." The bridge communications tech explained with more than a little trepidation. The pirate commander was relatively even tempered compared to his second-in-command. But when he became angry, his volcanic temper had an evil reputation even among his own shipmates.
"I'll be back in a little while." barked the pirate commander before quickly spinning around and heading towards the bridge exit.
Jackson Farrow forcefully walked towards sickbay where Jonathan Murrel had been held.
"Someone needs to find out who the hell else that bastard told about this place." he said to himself as he rounded the corner and entered the main sickbay. He looked at the medic there and ordered.
"Open the door to that room. I want to talk to our prisoner, right now."
The medic opened the door then stood there with a shocked look on his face.
"He's not here, Sir."
"Where the hell did out 'guest' go?" Jackson angrily asked.
"I don't know. The last time that I saw him was just before we launched the shuttles to investigate the asteroid belt, Sir."
"I want a search party looking for him right now. Send out a message to all of our ships as well. Find that sonofabitch now!" he snarled.
Chapter Nineteen:
Near Docking Bay 2
Inside the former Red Star Collective Base.
YBP 1194 Star System, M 67 Star Cluster, Orion Arm
February 15, 2321
Angela was standing next to a small side corridor watching a couple more of her fellow crewmen running towards the shuttle when she felt something tug at the back of her arm. She was already drawing a weapon as she turned to see who was there. Angela stood there shocked when she saw who it was.
"Jonathan. What the hell are you doing here?"
Somehow, Jonathan had managed to get a hostile environment suit, sneak onboard the Shuttle before it left the Black Diamond and then leave the shuttle, all without being seen. Now, he was nervously crouched there looking up at Angela.
"Please stay with me, Angela. I can't go back there with Farrow's people. I know that you don't want to either." Jonathan pleaded.
Angela was torn as he looked at Jonathan's anxious eyes. She looked around as she continued to hear the klaxton and the continuing countdown. She saw more of the pirates running towards the shuttle, some carrying boxes of looted tech with them. None of them seemed to pay attention to her or Jonathan as they kneeled in the narrow side passage. She feared that the base would explode around her. But at the same time, she did not want to go back to the pirates either.
"If we stay, we are going to die here, Jonathan." Angela said with a growing desperation in her own voice.
"No. We won't. I can't explain how I know this. But I am absolutely certain of it." He answered with a newfound confidence in his voice.
Angela paused for a moment, praying silently for guidance before answering.
"Alright then, Jonathan. I'm going to take a tremendous leap of faith here and stay with you, no matter what happens." Angela said with a worried sigh.
"Thank you, my dear angel. I pray that we both are making the right decision here."
"As am I, my friend." Angela finally answered.
The pirates onboard the 'Dream' were racing to get into their ship and leave the base before the self-destruct device went off. Just as the vast majority of the pirates reached the Conestoga and were lining up to get inside, there was a loud announcement that could be heard through the pirates’ individual communications links. Apparently, they had been hacked in the past few minutes by whoever was already inside of the base.
“Attention, all intruders from the cargo shuttle. We have already jammed all communications going out to your other ships. You are completely surrounded and isolated. Put down your weapons and
all equipment. Then put your hands on top of your helmets. If you fail to comply, you will be immediately shot and killed.”
There were all kinds of screaming and yelling as everyone from the pirate shuttle tried to get inside of the safety of their vessel. Unfortunately for the pirates, one of Alec’s other recent acquisitions now made its appearance.
A sextet of heavy powered armor suits swiftly moved out from within a nearby compartment to cover the pirate shuttle’s entryways. They raised their arm-mounted heavy weapons and pointed them at the mass of pirates standing there.
“Put down your weapons and place your hands on top of your helmets immediately. This is your last warning!” The radio message repeated.
Someone among the massed group of pirates began to fire her automatic rifle at the Alacrity’s armored infantry troops. Within a couple of seconds, several other pirates did the same, hoping to be able to disable the armored infantry and enable the pirates to board their shuttle.
Unfortunately for the pirates, the rifle fire was completely ineffective against the armored suits. Almost regretfully, the armored infantry began to fire back into the mass of pirates. It only took a few seconds before all of them were torn to shreds, starting with the pirate that fired first. The compartment quickly lapsed into silence after the slaughter.
The handful of pirates that were already inside of their shuttle quickly surrendered when they saw that the armored infantry marines preparing to breach one of the shuttle airlock doors. The pirates inside knew that it would be a simple matter to penetrate the shuttle’s airlock.
A great cheer roared through the compartment as Tony, Martin and the others from Alacrity’s crew took control of the pirates’ Conestoga. At the same time, a few of them found themselves nauseated at the sight of several dozen dead pirates that had been torn to pieces.
Alec Martinson had come down from Alacrity in time to watch the end of the shooting. He wasn’t any happier about the slaughter, but knew that there had been little choice once the pirates began shooting. The powered armor suits used by the privateers’ marines were not equipped with non-lethal weapons in any event.
