Authors: Bernard Lee DeLeo
“Nope. We left the power on, and you can use your particle beam key for anything closed or jammed,” Dougherty replied.
Lead Pirate
Dougherty watched Jake start his two hundred yard trek for Hushanni’s ship for a moment, and then walked back to where Mercer had stripped the guard out of his containment suit. Mercer was in the process of cleaning out the gear knife wound in the guard’s thigh. The guard had not uttered a word since Dougherty and Mercer had dragged him into Alpha’s normal gravity.
“How’s he doin’, Charlie?”
“Not bad, considering Jake’s throw,” Mercer replied, as he wrapped the wound in an analgesic bandage which would also heal the ragged tear. “If not for the containment suit, the knife would probably have just passed right through his leg, taking part of it along for the ride.”
The two friends laughed at the picture Mercer painted with his words, as their prisoner shifted uneasily.
“My Commander did not tell me the Matthews would be coming after us,” the guard complained.
His statement provoked even louder laughter from his two captors.
“The Matthews, huh?” Mercer repeated.
“I know you two also,” the guard continued, looking back and forth between Mercer and Dougherty, awe evident in his face. He pointed at Mercer. “You are Major Mercer, and he is Lieutenant Dougherty, the gunner.”
“How the hell.” Mercer exclaimed in confusion, looking at Dougherty.
“The vids we’ve sent from all of our missions, including the ones from when we blew up Earth Command, have contributed to our notoriety even out here, right Sparky,” Dougherty asked the guard, smiling.
“Yes, we have seen all of your famous missions. My name is not Sparky. It is Abdul Roshman. We were not told our taking of the fuel cells would bring the Matthews, and his crew, to Casserine. The Matthews would have sliced me up in there.”
“Oh yeah,” Mercer agreed. “The Matthews does not like thieves, but he hates hostage takers. He’d still be in the storage area, slicin’ and dicin’, if not for having to keep you as a backup. You wouldn’t happen to know where the transport is, your people are holding, would you?”
Roshman looked at Mercer in honest confusion. “I was not told of a transport. My Commander told us we were to negotiate for safe passage, and many credits, using the fuel cells to blackmail the new military governor. He thought your forces could not afford such a loss.”
“Your Commander left out a small detail, Abdul,” Dougherty explained. “He had some of your buddies capture a transport with five thousand colonists on board, bound for Omaha, and Bougainville. They are to be destroyed if five billion credits were not delivered to Hushanni here on Casserine.”
“Five billion credits, five thousand hostages?” Roshman gasped. “I know nothing of these things. This explains why the Matthews would come. Am I to be executed, then?”
Mercer held up his hand, and touched the side of the headset he was wearing. “Jake, you there?”
“I’m on, Charlie,” Jake replied. “I’m almost to Hushanni’s ship. Any problems?”
“No, but it appears Hushanni kept his minions in the dark about the transport part of the plan. In other words, we may have a difficult time finding the transport unless I can get to interrogate Hushanni.”
“How about the ship’s logs as far as the abatement signal goes?” Jake mentioned. “Ask the guard if there might be any record of codes or signals in their communications’ panel.”
Mercer turned to the guard, as Dougherty left to get into position for Jake’s assault on Hahanni’s ship. “The Matthews wants to know if there might be a ship’s log concerning communications codes.”
The guard sat up, rubbing his bearded chin. “Yes, there indeed must be a log, because we have only one communications center on the ship, and everything sent would have had to go through our communications man. Perhaps if the Matthews could find.”
“He’s dead, Abdul, along with your whole gang, except for you and Hushanni,” Mercer informed him. “I’m afraid you and your little friends screwed around once too often.”
Roshman shook his head sadly in agreement. “We should never have come to this hell hole.”
“Jake, Abdul here says Hushanni had to go through the com center man to get anything done. Chances are you can find the codes and frequency at least,” Mercer replied. “Don’t take too many chances with that slimy prick, Jake.”
“I’ll be careful, Charlie, but I’ve got five thousand people counting on Hushanni meeting up with Mr. Snappy.”
“Oh, and what a time we’ll have then,” Mercer smiled at Roshman, who looked away quickly.
“You in position, Tim?” Jake asked.
“I’m in the bubble, and I’m zeroed in on our little trouble maker,” Dougherty answered. “He’s still in his cabin, and he ain’t moving around.”
“By the way, nice doorway, Tim,” Jake told him. “The edges are sharp as a razor.”
“I’ve been working on varying the signal, both in intensity, and movement. When I plot the target, I’ve written a program to go as deep or as shallow as I want. As long as I know the makeup of whatever I have to pass through first, anything is possible. I can’t wait ‘till we go after the other fuel pirate ship. I’ll carve them up like.”
“Save it for when we find out where the hell they are. Besides, I’d just as soon make the pirate ship disappear,” Jake cut in. “Give me some directions.”
“Walk straight through the entrance I made. My little pathway takes you directly to his cabin door,” Dougherty directed.
“Jesus, Tim,” Jake marveled, as he walked through the cutout in the ship. “You cut me out a trail right through bulkheads and all.”
“I aim to please. I would have cut open his hatch too, but I didn’t want to spook him.”
“Good thinking. I’m outside his hatch. I counted only eight bodies on the way in. Are you sure there aren’t any others alive?”
“You’re joking, right Jake?” Dougherty asked.
“I monitored the life signs, while the maestro was at work,” Corey came on, chuckling at Dougherty’s response. “The only one breathing is inside the cabin you’re at.”
“Sorry Tim, I didn’t mean to insult you,” Jake laughed. “Want to open the door for me?”
“I thought you’d never ask. Stand about five feet to the left, General. Shield your eyes, and let me know when you’re ready.”
Jake moved to the bulkhead on his left, and put his left hand up to partly shield his eyes. He gripped the trigger area of his rifle with his right hand, while it was slung over his right shoulder. “Open says-a-me.”
Moments later, a five second flash heralded the removal of Hushanni’s hatch door. Jake streaked through, angling crossways into the right side of the room, crouching as he moved.
“On your left, Jake,” Dougherty called out.
Jake swiveled left, and spotted Hushanni right away. He smiled and straightened up. Hushanni lay in a pool of his own vomit, where Casserine’s gravity, and fear, now left him pinned weakly to the floor. He groaned as he tried to turn towards the noise, but gave up quickly.
“You all getting this picture of the mighty fuel pirate?”
“Oh yeah,” Mercer laughed. “He only thinks he feels bad now. Wait until you drag him back here to Alpha.”
Jake could hear the others agreeing, and making light of Hushanni’s chances of ever feeling good again. “I’m going to get the com code out of him before I drag his ass out of here.”
“He’s clean, Jake,” Dougherty put in. “I scanned him for anything with a signal.”
“Thanks, Tim,” Jake replied as he approached the downed man carefully. When he reached Hushanni, Jake held his rifle pointed at his head until he had checked his hands for weapons without signals. Sweat poured from Hushanni’s head. His thick black mustache and hair glistened wetly. Hushanni’s heavyset body trembled with the effort to lift his head up and look for the author of the voice he heard talking moments ago.
“Relax Soddie,” Jake told him gruffly, kneeling on his left knee over the prone figure. “I have some questions for you, and then you and I are going to go to your Communication’s Center.”
“I…I cannot move.”
“You let me worry about that part. Sara, you recording?”
“Yes Sir, every word.”
“You…You. “ Hushanni stammered, his eyes widening in shock as he recognized the man kneeling next to him.
‘Tea, yea, I’m the Matthews,” Jake cut him off impatiently. The rest of the Alpha Crew were laughing in appreciation of the exchange they were monitoring. “Now I want you to start reciting your com panel code, and the specifics of frequency, you contact the ship holding our transport hostage with.”
Hushanni began to speak, but paused fearfully, seeing Jake’s eyes turn cold at what he thought Hushanni was about to say. Instead of answering, Hushanni clamped his lips together almost childishly, and looked away from Jake.
“Uh oh,” Dougherty whispered, with Mercer sitting next to him at the makeshift command post he had set up on Alpha’s hanger deck floor, near his gun emplacement.
Jake laid his rifle down. Grasping Hushanni by his uniform top, he hauled the man right up into the air, slamming him up against the nearest bulkhead. Hushanni screamed as something cracked in his back, and his head rebounded off the wall, nearly causing him to lose consciousness. Jake held him aloft with one hand pinning him to the wall, and smacked him across the face with his open hand, provoking yet another ear piercing scream.
“Easy, Destructo,” Mercer said quietly. “Leave some for Mr. Snappy.”
“Don’t worry, Charlie,” Jake said through clenched teeth. “Sod is going to tell me what I want to know, and then him and I are going to walk over and get Tim hooked into the system. Now then, ready to be helpful my little man, or would you like me to give you another taste of bounce the old head off the wall?”
Tears were streaming down Hushanni’s face, as he struggled to stay conscious. “It…it is impossible…for you to do these things in…this gravity. What…what are you?”
Jake’s hand went back again, and Hushanni begged. “No. please. please. I will tell you. Do not hit me again. Please let me down.”
Jake hesitated for a moment, and then let Hushanni slide heavily down the wall. His body came to rest in a sitting position, Hushanni’s legs splayed out comically in front of him. Jake crouched down again next to the man. He yanked Hushanni’s head up by the hair, holding him steadily. Jake wiggled the head minutely back and forth.
“Start talking, Sod, and I mean right now.”
“Take me to the communications center. I…I will guide you,” Hushanni replied.
Jake picked up Hushanni, and put him over his shoulder, ignoring Hushanni’s cries of pain. Hushanni stopped complaining on the way, as they passed the dead bodies of his crew. Jake said a silent prayer of thanks when they reached the communications center. Although there were three dead crewmembers in the room, none of the panels had been hit. Jake sat Hushanni in front of the main panel, Hushanni pointed out to him.
“I know what you were thinking, Jake,” Dougherty said. “You thought maybe I’d taken out the com center, like some boot camp, who couldn’t tell the difference in targets. I’m hurt.”
“How did you…never mind,” Jake replied with a laugh. ‘Tea, I was just saying a silent prayer the panel hadn’t been hit, smart ass. Sorry for doubting you. I didn’t know you read minds.”
“You are forgiven, my son,” Dougherty quipped solemnly for the entertainment of the others on the line. “I’m all set up. Just have him enter the access code, and I’ll take it from there.”
Jake leaned down, and whispered in the ear of Hushanni, who cringed. “Okay Sod, do your thing. Just enter your access code, and stop. If you so much as cause me to think you’re screwing this up, I am going to break little inconsequential pieces of you off, and cauterize the holes with my rifle. Understand?”
Hushanni nodded fearfully, adrenaline giving him the strength to do as Jake ordered. He slumped back in the chair as soon as he completed his task.
“I’m in, Jake,” Dougherty acknowledged. “Come on home.”
“I’ll just drop Soddie off, while I take care of those mines in the storage area. You guys entertain our guest, and explain why he’s going to tell his minions he received the extortion money. They’ll let the transport go then, and we.”
“They are to kill the transport passengers. even if we did get the credits,” Hushanni broke in hesitantly.
“Shit,” Jake said softly, considering the implications of this new piece of information.
“Never mind, Jake,” Mercer said quickly. “Just bring Hushanni to me. I’ve got a plan.”
“Good, because I’m losing clarity here,” Jake admitted. “We’ll be over in a minute.”
Dougherty and Mercer watched Jake take the loading sled with him as he trudged back to the storage area to gather the explosives for transport. Hushanni lie inside the closed hatch while Casserine’s gravity became Earth normal.
“Jake don’t look like he has that old spring in his step,” Mercer observed.
“He’s had a long day, even for him,” Dougherty replied. “I hope your plan works, Charlie.”
“It ain’t that complex. Old Sod will call his buddies, and tell them he’s on the way with the credits. He’ll order them to hold off destroying the transport because he wants to do it himself. We arrive instead, cloaked. We then turn fuel pirate kidnapping ship into space atoms.”