“I’m getting radiation readings. Consistent with a hold full of uranium.” Looking at Kruger, he said, “I think you just armed a low-megaton yield nuclear bomb.”
Shaking his head, Kruger reached for the charge, and said, “In that case…”
Turning towards him, Garcia aimed his pistol at Kruger, and said, “Arm it.”
“Two and a half minutes?” Kruger asked. “I need…”
“We daren’t give them time to remove the charges. Arm the damn bomb. Now.” At the archaeologist’s hesitation, he added, “You die now, or you die in three minutes. Your call.”
“Bastard,” Kruger said, smashing his fist on the charge. He sprinted for Pandora, ignoring the fire heading their way, and said, “Come on, damn it. We’ve still got time to get clear.” Odin’s engines roared, the freighter beginning to lift off. “They’ve got the right idea.”
“Vicky’s still out there.”
“I’m not going to die…”
“Get on board. Run pre-flight. Take off with thirty seconds to spare. I’m going after her.”
“What can you possibly do with two minutes?”
“Go, damn it!” Garcia said, running into the smoke. “Don’t wait for me!”
“Don’t worry about that,” Kruger replied. “I won’t.”
Chapter 26
Carter stalked across the terrain, hunting her prey. Odin soared overhead, casting a brief shadow across the battlefield, taking the survivors of her crew to safety. She’d done what she’d come here to do. Now she could free herself for her revenge. She stalked across the terrain, following a trail of corpses, the dead and the dying scattered across the field. Some of them, a few of them, were Odin crewmen. Most were pirates, but none were the man she was looking for, a man she had only seen once, but whose face would be seared into her memory forever.
Then she saw him, standing at the threshold of the arrowhead scoutship, bodies all around, panicked voices calling from inside. She couldn’t mistake him. One of the pirates, one of his own men, sprinted towards the scoutship, clutching his wounded wrist, and Smith raised his pistol and shot him square in the chest, not even seeming to care that he’d murdered one of his own men, only concerned with his own safety. She walked towards him, eyes fixed on her goal, a furious scowl on her face.
“Smith!” she yelled, pointing her pistol at him. He looked up at her, smiled, and stepped back into the ship, the airlock starting to cycle. She took her shot, fire in her eyes as she determined to avenge the death of her crew, her family, and saw him fall, the bolt hitting him in the side, his figure crumpling to the deck as the airlock began to close. He was still moving, writhing in pain as the hatch slammed shut, and she moved forward, ready to fire again, only to feel a hand grabbing her shoulder, turning to see Garcia pulling her back.
“Leave me alone!” she said. “I’ve got to get him.”
“You got him,” he replied.
Shaking her head, she said, “He’s not dead.”
“Listen to me,” he said. “In less than two minutes Fortuna’s going to explode like a megaton-bomb. They had uranium, plutonium on board. God knows what they wanted to do with it, but when our charges go off, they’re bound to reach critical mass. If we don’t get back to the ship right now, we’ll be caught in the blast.” He paused, then added, “There will be another time, Vicky, but not if we’re dead!”
She looked back at the scoutship, cursed, then said, “I can take him.”
“Not now, you can’t. They’ll be launching any second now.” Looking at the waiting Pandora, airlock open, he said, “Damn it, Vicky, we’ve got to go!”
Spitting on the ground, she followed him to the waiting airlock, the engines of the pirate scoutship roaring as it rose from the surface, sending dust rising in all directions. Smith’s lackeys raced around, some of them climbing into Fortuna, others fanning out around the side, beginning a futile attempt to remove the charges before detonation. Garcia sped inside, Carter following, her fist slamming the airlock control to secure the hatch before sprinting to her position on the bridge.
“You took your time,” Kruger said, moving to the sensor position. “Fifty seconds to detonation.”
“We’ll never reach altitude in time,” Garcia replied.
“We don’t have to,” Carter said. “Full thrust, now.” She played the landing thrusters around, one after another, then sent Pandora into the sky. Instead of firing the main engines, she fed all the power she could to the thrusters, her ship lurching upwards in staggered bursts, Kruger glaring at her as she struggled to gain altitude.
“What are you doing?” he yelled. “We’ve got a thin chance if…”
“We need a shield,” she replied, throwing the engines to minimum power, diving towards the nearest of the passes, turning the ship to the side to ease through it, rocks falling all around as she edged her way to safety, both the pirate camp and Fortuna now behind a wall of rock. As soon as they cleared the pass, she threw the engines to full power, diving down the far side, working her way into the maze of canyons beyond. They needed to build up speed before daring for altitude, their only hope of getting out of the blast radius in time.”
“Countdown, Kruger,” she ordered.
“Fifteen seconds. Distance two miles.” He threw a control, and said, “Estimated yield, three megatons. Probably. We might get lucky.”
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Garcia said. “They aren’t just carrying raw ore. That was refined. Weapons-grade. We need to assume that they’ve assembled warheads.” Shaking his head, he added, “Though I don’t have the first idea why.”
“Destroy a ship, destroy a city,” Kruger replied. “Just a matter of scale. Eight seconds. We need more speed!” Looking down at his console, he added, “Twelve miles.” A loud boom shook the ship, and for a second, panic flared in the archaeologist’s eyes, before he said, “We’re supersonic.”
“We need more speed,” Carter said, keeping the ship low, working from ravine to ravine, weaving between the mountains with sharp jabs of the thrusters. They had to put a mass of stone between themselves and the explosion, until finally she judged that they were safe to rise.
“Thirty miles,” Kruger reported.
“Pulling her up.” Carter said, as a huge flash filled the screen, followed by an earth-shattering roar. If anything, Garcia had underestimated the yield, a mushroom cloud blooming into the sky, higher and higher, the fabric of the mountain collapsing behind them. Carter pushed the engines as hard as she dared, warning lights flashing on every station. Radiation alarms wailed as she threw the throttles forward, trying to gain speed and height.
Then the shock wave hit, catching them in the rear, sending them tumbling out of control despite her best efforts. The ship was spun around, and she had her first glimpse of the zone of destruction, lava spewing forth from the mountains for the first time in eons, every trace of the brief touch of humanity destroyed, and the alien artefacts with it. Oddly, all she could think was that she was one of the only people to ever see the crystal cave, now shattered and destroyed with everything else.
She struggled to bring Pandora back under control, the ship diving and spinning around, the furious winds raging as though the planet itself was seeking revenge on the ones responsible for the turmoil on the ground. Finally, slowly, she managed to level off, pulling up and away with the engines roaring to full power once more, kicking them into the upper atmosphere and leaving the desolate planet behind. Wiping her forehead, she turned to look at the pale-faced Kruger, hunched over his controls.
“Report,” she said.
“Wha?” he replied, looking down at his console. “Radiation levels dropping rapidly. We’re within safe limits, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get checked-out when we get to Odin.” He turned to Garcia, and said, “I strapped down Schmitt, but…”
“Schmitt?” Carter asked.
“I found him in the medical bay, badly wounded, bandaged up. No sign of Sandoval, either.”
> “You mean we left her behind?”
“Odin to Pandora,” the crackling voice of Wu said. “Come in, please.”
“Pandora to Odin,” Carter replied. “We read you, but distorted.”
“We’re tracking you…,” the voice said, roaring into static for a moment while Garcia played with the controls, gritting his teeth in frustration. “…at once.”
“Repeat that, Odin. Repeat.”
“I said that we’re tracking you to orbit and are on an intercept course. Our medical unit is standing by for Schmitt right now, and Odin’s medtech is ready to begin surgery as soon as you dock. We should be alongside in four minutes. Be ready at the airlock.”
“What’s going on?” Garcia asked. “Where’s Sandoval?”
“She turned traitor. Tried to kill me. Damn near did kill Schmitt, and he saved my life in the process. I left him stable but critical.” Fear filled her voice, and she continued, “He isn’t…”
“Not when I last saw him,” Kruger said, as Garcia ran back to the crew room. “I have you on positive course track now. Ready for intercept. Feeding a course to the helm.” He paused, then added, “There’s no sign of anything at all on the surface, but I am picking up the pirate scoutship on a departure vector. He’s heading out of the system as fast as he can.” Frowning, he continued, “We’ve got the edge on speed. I think we can catch him.”
“Time to intercept,” Carter said, turning back to the controls.
“Forty-nine minutes,” Kruger replied.
Garcia stepped back onto the bridge, and said, “I don’t think Schmitt’s got that long. Vital signs are dropping rapidly. That’s a damned nasty wound on his shoulder. I’m slightly surprised he’s still alive at all.” He looked at Carter, and said, “Come on, Vicky, this isn’t a choice. We save Schmitt.”
“There’s still a chance to stop Smith.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Garcia replied. “You shot the bastard. I saw him fall…”
“Wounded, not killed. I’ve got to finish him.”
“At the cost of Schmitt’s life?”
Wu’s voice crackled over the communicator, saying, “Pandora, we’re on approach, but you haven’t changed your course. Have you sustained damage?”
“Negative,” Garcia said. “We’re on our way.”
With a sigh, Carter altered course, bringing Pandora around towards Odin, and said, “Kruger, I want every sensor you’ve got focused on that bastard. Every scrap of information we can get. You understand?” Turning to Garcia, she added, “Once we’ve cared for Schmitt…”
“If we save his life, I’ll stick with you for as long as it takes,” Garcia replied. “My word on that. We’ll get him sooner or later. There’s only so many places someone like that can hide.” Heading to the rear, he said, “I’ll prepare for the transfer.”
Carter nodded, turning back to her controls, rage boiling inside her. She looked at the scoutship running from the system, every instinct calling upon her to alter course, chase after him. The cold expression on the face of Smith as he had gunned down one of his own men appalled her. Though doubtless she’d condemned dozens more to die on the surface, consumed by their own stockpile of weapons. Nuclear warheads, armed and ready for action. Weapons that had no conceivable use in space-based combat, only for planetary deployment.
“We’ll be heroes when we get back to Colchis,” Kruger said. “They’ll be lining up to bid for the story rights. Might even get a book out of this.” With a grin, he said, “Come on, Captain. We lived through the biggest explosion we’ve ever seen, rescued the prisoners, destroyed the pirate’s base. Isn’t that enough for one day?”
“Not until I’ve beaten that bastard,” Carter replied, as she gently guided Pandora towards Odin, firing the docking thrusters to slow her speed, lining up the two docking airlocks. “Not until I’ve watched him die at my feet. Then, maybe, I can call this a win. Until then, I keep fighting.” He looked at her, shook his head, and turned back to his console.
“Cleared for docking. I’ve completed handshake with Odin.” He paused, then added, “No chance now of intercepting the pirate before he leaves the system. He’s got away. I’ll keep gathering data as long as I can, but I’m afraid we’ve lost him.”
“Only for the moment,” she replied, rising to her feet. “Only for the moment.” The two ships locked together, a loud report as the airlocks mated, the hatches opening, and there was chaos on the deck as the medtech raced inside, gurney behind him, Wu and Scott following. Looking at the battered paramedic, Carter said, “Save his life. Or I gave up the best chance I had to avenge my crew for nothing.”
“I’ll do what I can,” he said.
“You’d damned well better,” she said, turning back to the bridge. As Kruger moved to assist the others, she took his position at the sensor display, watching the scout with furious eyes. “Run, you bastard,” she said. “Run as far and as fast as you like. I’ll find you. And the next time we meet, you won’t be so lucky.”
Epilogue
Scott walked into the lounge, now wearing a fresh uniform, and took a seat at the head of the table, facing Carter, with Garcia, Kruger and Wu sitting around. Carter pushed him a mug of tepid coffee, and he took it with a nod.
“Schmitt is out of danger,” he said, Wu and the others visibly relaxing at his words. “He’s going to need hospitalization as soon as we get back to Colchis, but we’ll pick up the tab if we can’t shame the Patrol into doing it. You don’t need to worry.” Looking at Wu, he added, “It was touch and go, but Larry said that you managed to save his life. If you hadn’t bandaged him up…”
“I just did what he asked me to do,” she replied, with a smile. “I’m glad it worked.”
“You’re heading straight home?” Kruger asked.
“Our cargo went up in that nuclear fireball. Not that I’m complaining, the insurance will pay out, but we might as well head back right away. I’d like to give the crew some leave, as well. God knows they’ve earned it after what we went through. I want to run some more background checks, as well. I still can’t quite believe Sandoval betrayed us.”
“She certainly had us fooled,” Garcia said.
Placing his hands on the table, Scott continued, “I know we said that we would help you out before, that we were on your side, but after what you did today, if there is anything you need, up to and including my right arm, don’t ask, just take it. I mean that. And I know Big Joe will back me up on this one. Our resources aren’t exactly unlimited, but whatever you need, you get.”
“Can I take that to include passage back to Colchis for me and a box of artefacts?” Kruger asked. Looking at Carter, he continued, “Don’t take this the wrong way, Captain, but the life you’re choosing to lead is a little too dangerous for my liking. I think I’m going to sit back and watch the media credits roll in.” He paused, then added, “And keep an eye on Schmitt, as well.”
“You’re going on?” Scott asked. “I thought you’d be coming back with us. After…”
“The job isn’t finished yet,” Carter said. “We might have stopped the pirates for now, but Smith got away, and until we’ve found him, this isn’t over.”
“Besides,” Garcia added, “there are too many unanswered questions. I’d still like to know what the hell a group of pirates were doing with a dozen nuclear warheads. And that archaeological mine. Even if it was just meant to be a side-line, they seemed pretty damn obsessed with it. That wasn’t them taking advantage of a fortuitous discovery. They went looking for it.”
“That race never quite reached the level of technology we possess today,” Kruger said. “If you think they’re coming the galaxy for a super-weapon, you’re mistaken. We’re not even sure they had laser weapons. And their artifacts…”
“The fact remains that they were hunting the galaxy for something, and I want to know what. And more importantly, why.” Raising an eyebrow, he added, “We could certainly use the help of a good archaeologist.”
&nbs
p; “I’ll see if I can find one for you,” Kruger replied. “My adventuring days are over.”
“What about you, Cassie?” Scott asked. “I’ve got a few spare berths. Enough to let you dead-head home. I’d be glad to have the company.”
Shaking her head, the engineer replied, “What Vicky said goes for me as well. This job isn’t finished yet. A lot of people have already died, and I’d like to be a part of stopping anyone else joining them.” Glaring at Garcia, she added, “Though next time, I’ll lead the assault team, and you can stay on the damned ship! I’ve hardly had a chance to try out any of my toys yet.”
“Agreed,” Garcia said, raising his hands.
“Be certain you know what you’re signing up for,” Carter warned. “I’m going to track that bastard down until I find him and kill him. Even if I have to fly a thousand light-years, even if it takes the better part of the next decade, I’m not going to rest until I’ve stopped him.”
Garcia looked at Wu, then said, “I think we both know what we’re doing.” He smiled, then said, “You know, when I joined the Patrol, I had the naïve idea that I was going to be one of the good guys, flying around the galaxy fighting the bad guys. I wish I could tell my seventeen-year-old self that there was nothing but paperwork and politics on the path I was choosing.” Looking at Carter, he said, “I’m in. All the way.”
“Someone needs to keep an eye on you,” Wu added. “I guess that’s going to have to be us.”
Finishing her coffee, Carter said, “Can we borrow some supplies? We’re still short on rations, and I don’t want to waste time hitting a refurbishment depot.”
“You’re going now?” Scott asked.
“We’ve got the galaxy to search, Joe. The sooner we start, the better.”
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Fortunes of War (Stellar Main Book 1) Page 19
