Chaos Cipher (66 page)

‘
Tell them
what you need to,’ she said. ‘We’ve more pressing matters. If we
can intercept these alien targets before they reach the planet then
the Shield of Spheres will receive massive donations from Atominii
archologies. Right now the money’s on the targets and we need
that.’

‘
One more
thing,’ said Nitro. ‘
Omicron
just sealed off a quarter of the habitat because
of an explosion. Apparently, there’s an Olympian terrorist here. Is
that of interest to us?’

‘
We’ve
already been informed and told to stay away from that situation,’
said the Chief. ‘Somebody is handling it.’

‘
Oh, yeah?
Looks like they’re doing a shitty job. Is it Global Defence or the
Orbital Guard or what?’

‘
I don’t
know,’ she revealed.

‘
Well, in any
case, there’s a lock down on the station’s harbour. I’m going to
have to get hold of Anton Regallio, get them to lift quarantine
for
The Griffin’s Claw
. They’re sitting around with Black Alloy drills in their
cargo hold, I don’t want an investigation team jeopardising our
mission. I need to get them out of here at least.’

There was a
long silence and he thought he heard her sighing. ‘Alright,’ she
said. ‘You deal with
The Griffin’s
Claw
. I want the others on an intercept
run, commanded by Ace Ripley.’

‘
Roger.’

‘
No fuck-up’s
Nitro. There’s a lot riding on this one.’

When the
signal finished, Nitro Harbeck ran his hand over the white strike
in his hair and sighed. He marched out of his room and opened the
double doors to the recreation suite. Estelle was playing neuro
augmented cognition games, John Ripley, however, was playing a good
old fashioned game of cards with Mortel and smoking a diffusion
pipe.

‘
We’re
gearing up,’ he told them. ‘Chief Noble wants you on a new mission.
I’ll finish up with the Griffin.’

‘
What’s going
on?’ asked Estelle.

‘
Invasion.
UFO’s inbound, highly volatile, and highly dangerous.’

‘
Wait...say
what now?’ Mortel asked.

‘
Get ready
for a briefing on an unknown enemy. Man your ships. We’re
leaving
Omicron
as soon as possible for an intercept mission.
Hustle!’

And Mortel
patted Ripley on the back and threw his cards down and Ripley
stared in disbelief.

‘
Almost had
me, Ace,’ Mortel conceded, as the Commander set his diffusion pipe
onto the table top surface and jumped down with a determined
huff.

‘
Fuck-it all
over,’ he groaned restively, flattening out a straight
flush. 

-50-

A
t the civilian level, emergency
alarms were sonorously beating through the grid walkways and roads,
and Kelly could take the noise in her ears no longer. Caspian was
leading them down to one of the sub level elevators. It was a
squeeze just to get there, but once they were inside, they made
their way down to the lower level. Muttering voices perturbed the
space as they crushed inside. Caspian groaned uncomfortably and a
voice was asking some anonymous inhabitant if they had heard about
the explosion? It can’t be terrorists, said another, not on
Omicron
, it’s the hub of
special communication.

‘
Maybe that’s
the point.’ Someone else continued.

‘
I heard it
was an accident…’

‘
It’s
possible there was a hull breach or a crash outside.’

‘
What if they
made an illicit test run on the particle colliders? What if they’re
colliding Obsiduranium pellets, did you ever think of that? We
could have micro-black holes out there tearing up the damn place. I
don’t trust these Earther scientists, you know.’

They went on
with their theories and conspiracy conjectures. Caspian saw the
fear all twisted up in Scuttle’ face. He asked him if he was
alright, but Scuttle nodded and cast his attention through the
glass elevator and down on the gardens and criss-crossed grid
walkways, lit by the dull kindle of bio-luminous plants. The tattoo
down Caspian’s left arm began to move and glow as an incoming call
beckoned his response. Scuttle saw the skin animation shift,
glowing with numbers and letters. Caspian lightly touched the
patterns and spoke.

‘
What’s up,
Adamski?’ he asked.

Pawel’s
troubled face was projected through Caspian’s left ocular contact
lens. Pawel could see Caspian reciprocally from the micro-lens
designed into his skin animation.

‘
Bad news
Captain Mowser,’ he said gravely. ‘We’re not clear for departure.
All flights are grounded.’

‘
Grawndeed?’
Caspian drawled in disbelief. ‘What d’ heil d’ya mein, grawndeed?
Whai?’

‘
Flights
grounded because of terrorist attack.’

‘
Weir pullin’
moves ere’ Adam, we ghot ah chuck!’ Caspian said viciously. ‘Look!
Weir almost et the Greeffin, just heing on ah-lil’ longah n’ si eef
y’ ken sort this awt, ah?’

‘
I will do my
best,’ said Pawel. ‘Maybe, I think our new friends can help get us
clearance?’

‘
Who, y’ mean
Jerrus?’ said Caspian.

‘
What’s
happening?’ asked Kelly. ‘What’s he saying?’

‘
I’ll patch
y’ in.’

Caspian
expanded the frequency and included Kelly’s signal into the
conversation. The image appeared into her ocular and her skincom
began to glow.

‘
Pawel!’
Kelly said. ‘Have Ethan meet us in the port-hangars with those
oxygen masks. Air pressure’s usually low down there and the
station’s tangential velocity is quicker in the towers, I’m not
used to it and neither is Scuttle.’

‘
Okay,’ said
Pawel. ‘I’ve raised the oxygen levels on the starnavis to
compensate for the centripetal acceleration down here. Everything
should be warming on-board. Ethan will meet you in hangar. See you
soon.’

*

Pawel watched
Ethan leaving the umbilical bridge through the surveillance
systems. He suddenly felt his ears pop slightly as the pressure
changed and yawned to get the air out.

‘
Ethan, was
that you?’ he asked, trying to locate a pressure door. ‘Did you
open a door?’

But the
communication hadn’t gotten out. He presumed the lock-down had also
quarantined their communications at first, but then he realised
he’d only just minutes ago spoken with the Captain. Pawel saw new
readings on the shuttle now. The inner airlock had opened; a key
code had been entered.

‘
Ethan?’ he
said nervously, watching the two readings ascending toward the
bridge command. Pawel quickly locked the doors and sealed the
ladder conduits. He accessed the neurosphere interface and began to
neuromit Ethan.

‘
Ethan, are you
getting this? Open your neuromissions feed Ethan! Get back to the
Starnavis. There’s trouble! We have people
aboard!
’

*

The
centrifugal forces had a more potent influence at Junction E,
almost doubling their weight. They moved in the oxygen rich
environment, quickly but not fast enough to run. Caspian strode
ahead gasping for air and led them into the large cylindrical
hangar. The green metallic coloured polymer floor pulsed with
illuminative arrows as the digital breadcrumb hologram guided them
to their airlock and umbilical passenger bridge. There were four
large circular doors in the hangar, three leading to different
ships, only one to
The Griffin’s
Claw
. The ceiling here was convex,
supported by thick resin parabola shaped purlins and textured with
a metallic charcoal matting. Ethan stood waiting outside the
airlock door, ovular chrome oxygen tanks in each hand. But Ethan
looked stoned and distant.

He waited for
Casper and his team to arrive.

‘
Hey, what’s
up?’ Kelly asked as he handed her an oxygen mask.

‘
Nothing…thought I heard something,’ said Ethan distantly. ‘I
think my neurophase is acting up.’

‘
Have you
tried your neurosphere?’ she asked, handing a mask to Caspian and
Scuttle.

The ringing
whittle of feedback sung through the harbours as
The Griffin’s Claw
command suite made an audio announcement.

‘
Captain,’
Pawel spoke. ‘We have company.’

‘
Pawel?’
Kelly said looking around for a camera feed.

‘
The next
voice you hear will be somebody who said he very much wants to see
you.’

‘
Whot de
heil?’ Caspian gasped through his mask. ‘Ethan, who de fuk ees on
mi sheip?’

‘
What?
Nobody, just Pawel-’

‘
Hello
Captain Mowser,’ said a voice that put chills through Scuttle’s
spine. ‘Thou dost not know me; however I can say there is much I
know of thy destiny.’

‘
Who ah yew?’
Caspian demanded.
‘Whot aiv
yew dun tu mai sheip?’

‘
Thy ship is
secure,’ Raven promised. ‘As too is your cargo. I do, however,
require the presence of the owner before I can part from this
place. It seems I cannot reconfigure the ship’s safety settings
since I frankly do not have the time.’

‘
He means
me,’ said Kelly, ‘the starnavis won’t fly without me on
it.’

‘
Tick-tick,
Captain Mowser.’ He said. ‘I’m waiting. Unless we leave this place
soon, destruction and death will obtain us all. You have a limited
time to respond.’

‘
What the
hell does he mean?’ Ethan growled. ‘Is he insane?’

‘
How did he
get on-board?’ Kelly asked, grabbing Ethan accusingly. ‘Didn’t you
lock the damn ship?’

‘
Of course I
did!’ Ethan fired defensively. ‘I always lock it, what d’ya think
I’m fucking stupid? I didn’t see anyone in there I don’t know how
he -’

‘
It’s not his
fault!’ A new voice issued.

They turned
now to see Nitro Harbeck strolling quickly towards them with a data
board. He was suited in dark padded armour, military pads that
plated his muscles and arms. He strolled with a phlegmatic
calm.

‘
Jerrus?’
Caspian stated.

‘
Not anymore,
son,’ he said. ‘Afraid the game’s over. You got a real dangerous
thing on that starnavis, and I’m not talking about the drills
now.’

‘
Who’s in
there?’ Kelly said. ‘And what do you mean the game’s
over?’

Nitro stood
beside them and removed a small circular plate from his utility
belt. He placed it behind his head and the plate began to grow,
segments sliding out to encase Nitro’s head safely in its
shielding, leaving only his eyes and features exposed.

‘
Olympian
genetic,’ he said, nodding toward the airlock leading to
The Griffin’s Claw
.
‘Terrorist. Let me speak with him.’

Nitro Harbeck
moved into the surveillance zone and looked up at the announcement
screen displaying only the ship’s name in bold. Nitro held up his
hands, ready to talk.

‘
Thou art not
a member of this crew.’

‘
Not a listed
one, that’s correct,’ said Nitro. ‘However what I have is a vested
interest in that starnavis you so happen to be hijacking. So,
listen up son. Here’s the scoop…’

‘
I am not thy
son!’ Raven bit fiercely. ‘I am nothing less than carnage and blood
spill. If thou should presume I am serious then negotiating with me
is hopeless. Perhaps I should purge a life in order to demonstrate
my dedication to this cause.’

‘
That’s not
necessary,’ Nitro said. ‘Now look here Raven. There’re people after
you. I was asked to keep out of the way but inevitably you’ve
dragged me into this and I can’t look away now. Do you know who I
am?’

‘
I could care
less, Titan!’ Raven truculently derided. ‘I know only that time is
deficient and destruction comes our way.’

‘
My name is
Nitro Harbeck,’ he introduced. ‘Shield of Spheres private defence
agency. This team are my new recruits.’

Caspian
couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he wasn’t sure if this was a
double bluff or some sort of trick or what.

‘
We’re very
professional and good at what we do,’ said Nitro. ‘What I’m
suggesting is that you let me aboard that ship, along with Caspian
and Kelly and Ethan and…’ Nitro turned and looked at Scuttle, then
rolled his eyes. ‘-the other guy. You can’t leave this place
without me anyway.’

‘
And why is
that?’

‘
I’m the only
one who can get you out of here. All flights are grounded, don’t
know if you realised but you caused a lot of hell up there. If you
wanna get out of here son, you’re gonna need me and I’m gonna need
that ship. We both want the same thing, fella. We both want to get
to Earth, right?’