Garrett nodded. "That is almost the equivalent of the cannon I had on the original
Jess
. If we can mount that on the hull, we will have more firepower than any of those Talisan gunships. They are using standard blasters that they mounted as external guns. Heck, we might even be able to beat the lot of them in a fight while flying this barge!"
I replied, "I don’t think this ship is solid enough to withstand the peppering that a few dozen of those gunships would offer. It would be too easy to poke holes in this hull. I do think that having a weapon mounted is much better than what we currently have. There should just be no mistaking this cargo vessel for a warship."
Garrett laughed. "Well, this is all we have. And if Go doesn’t make it back soon, we may be forced to use it. The Talisans want their slaves back working, and at some point they are going to force that issue."
The remainder of the day was spent working with Garrett on a gun mount. The old cargo hauler had a sensor turret that our multi-blaster could be attached to. Making a gun mount that would survive the rigors of space was not a trivial issue. It was, however, an issue that we could overcome.
The following afternoon, we had the sensor turret converted to also host our new multi-blaster. Garrett tapped into the power supply of the sensor array to provide a continuous feed of ion power. As a test, I piloted the cargo ship up to a kilometer of altitude while Garrett worked on calibrating the weapon’s aim. With a small amount of programming, our new multi-blaster was fully controllable from the copilot’s sensor screens.
Garrett spoke. "We need to find some real targets. If this works as well as I think it will, we will want to find more ion reflectors so that we can build one of these for the top sensor turret as well."
I replied, "I have a small town showing on the nav maps for this region. I suggest we pick out a half dozen targets, after which I will do a flyover while you fire at points beside those targets."
Garrett turned toward me with an odd stare. "Points beside targets? Why would we do that?"
I sighed. "We would do that because these targets are property of someone. Should they ever make it back from the slave mines, they will want that property back."
Garrett shook his head as he frowned. "Sorry, I don’t want to seem crass, but the Efficans have been gone for eighteen months now; I doubt even a quarter of them are still alive. I won’t argue with you about it, though; I’ll aim just to the north of each target. All that matters is that my aim is consistent. Take us to the town."
We ran repeated flyovers while Garrett perfected his aim. It didn’t take long for him to master the process. An algorithm that was tied to the sensors allowed rudimentary target automation. So long as an object wasn’t moving, we could accurately take it out.
When it became clear that we had a viable weapon, I said, "Are you ready for a real target?"
Garrett replied, "What do you have in mind?"
I pulled up a nav screen showing the capital city. "We could try it out on the Harpians. They will eventually fix those two transports. We could take them offline permanently."
Garrett smiled. "I like the way you think! Let’s go. I can program in the locations using the previous sensor data. If this algorithm is working, we can precision strike those ships before the Harpians have a chance to fire back at us."
The flight back to the city passed quickly. I set a course that would take us over the southwestern portion of the city center, allowing Garrett to test his targeting algorithm in a real-world setting. Jallis and Layda came forward to watch.
I said. "Course is laid in. We should be over the targets in about twelve seconds."
Jallis crossed his arms as he watched. "I hope they are all gathered around those ships. I would prefer to see them all dead."
The sensors picked up two decently large explosions as we passed over the targets. I circled back for an evaluation run. As we rolled over the targets for the second time, it became evident that only one of the transports was still there. The reddish-brown transport, the one that I had rammed before leaving, remained in the same location it had been. Garrett’s targeting algorithm and our new multi-blaster had seen to it that it would never fly again. The gray transport and the remaining salvagers were nowhere to be seen.
I pulled the ship back around and slowly moved over the area while scanning for life signs. The Harpians were gone.
Jallis snarled. "Somehow they repaired that other transport enough to move it elsewhere. Try a wider scan. Maybe they moved it into a nearby factory for repairs."
I pulled up the scan screen, widening the scan area. As I looked over the data, a half dozen bangs could be heard on our hull. The gray transport was firing on us.
Garrett yelled as I dropped the cargo ship down a hundred meters and began to move forward, "Where did they come from? They aren’t showing on the sensors!"
I pulled up and rolled over just in time to see the transport pass us again. Another half dozen blaster bolts impacted our hull.
I pulled hard left on the stick. "We are going to have to get a visual on them. It looks like they locked us out of the nav computer remotely. We should have thought about that before coming back here. I’ll have to fly us on full manual."
Garrett replied, "You get them around in front of us, and I will take them out!"
I dropped the transport down near the rooftops and took a heading going north of the city. The transport was faster and much more nimble than the cargo hauler we were flying. All we needed, however, was a clear line of sight for Garrett to take a shot.
Garrett scanned the nav screens. "Don’t worry about the hull taking hits; with that shop back there in the hold, we can repair those. Just get me lined up for a clean shot or two."
When we had reached the countryside, I began to zigzag. The transport soon whizzed by our location, again striking our hull multiple times. I rolled from side to side, but the cargo vessel was no match for our pursuer. After another round of damaging strikes, I pushed the throttle to full and turned the nose of the ship straight up. I leveled off at thirty thousand meters and began a slow, nose-down descent.
I smiled and nodded. "Here they come. They are likely to only fall for this once, so you better make your shots count!"
Garrett focused on his visual display. The gray Harpian transport came straight up for us. Garrett took aim and pushed the trigger. A fifteen-megajoule ion bolt emerged from our makeshift cannon. The shot missed just to the port side of the onrushing transport. Garrett took aim and fired another round, this time missing to the right. After a third alignment and a miss, he began to press the trigger button continuously, using the ion bolts to make his aim true.
As the transport began to veer to the left, I pushed the nose of the cargo ship in that direction and applied thrust. The transport continued its turn on a wide arc. It was a fatal mistake, one that allowed Garrett to properly sight the vessel and to bring the Harpians’ assault of terror to an end.
A bolt from our multi-blaster entered the port nacelle of the transport’s two small gravity thrusters. A fire emerged that quickly spread to the starboard engine, leaving the transport without power. The transport quickly fell into a dive and then into a death spiral as it raced back to the surface under the force of the planet’s gravity. Cheers rang out from Jallis and Layda as the gray transport impacted the ground. A small puff of smoke and flame from twenty thousand meters below were distinctly visible.
Garrett looked over at me with a smile. "Nice flying!"
Jallis grabbed my shoulder. "My brother has been avenged! I thank you. I thank the both of you!"
With the demise of the Harpian transport, our nav computer was returned to an operational state. I set a waypoint back to the field where we had previously taken refuge.
I spun the captain’s chair around. "When we land, we do a complete inspection of this hull and effect any repairs. After that, I am open to suggestions about how we spend our time while waiting for Go."
Garrett spoke. "I say we go salvage for more ion reflectors. If we can locate another nav computer, I might be able to rig it up to better emulate a targeting computer that is tied into our sensors. I think we got lucky with the Harpians’ last maneuver."
Layda spoke. "They did have salvage on the ground around where we had first encountered them. If we begin our search there, they may have already gathered what we are looking for."
As the cargo ship settled in the field, I nodded. "Excellent. Let’s get this done and get back while we still have daylight."
The Harpian blasters had poked a handful of pinholes into the cargo ship’s hull. With the tools and supplies on the ship, the hull was quickly repaired. We were soon settling down on the main avenue where the salvagers had made their camp. Jallis looked longingly at the wreckage of the reddish-brown transport where his brother had died.
I spoke as I placed my hand on Jallis’s shoulder. "Would you have issue with us naming this cargo ship after him? The
Garmon
has a nice ring to it."
Layda came up from behind us. "I think that would be fitting. We would honor his spirit by naming this vessel."
Jallis slowly shook his head. "No. I will honor him in my thoughts. This Harpian junk heap is not worthy of the name
Garmon
."
Layda nodded as she put her left arm around his waist. "We will honor him in whatever capacity you are comfortable with. He is deserving of whatever that is. We still need a name for this ship, though. Any thoughts?"
Jallis looked back at the Harpian cargo hauler. "The
Heap
. We call her what she is. A junker that we have taken on in an attempt to stay alive."
I nodded. "The
Heap
it is."
Jallis pointed toward the remains of the transport. "Do you think there is enough of him to recover? My people honor the dead through fire. We are born into this cold world screaming, and prefer to leave through the rising flame."
Layda pulled Jallis forward. "Come on. If we can’t get in there to get him, we will burn the whole thing."
I released my hand. "I’ll get started on the search for reflectors with Garrett."
As the two Feldons slowly walked toward the remains of the reddish-brown transport, I circled back to the gravity wall of the
Heap
. Garrett was assembling another blaster rifle.
I spoke. "Let’s go find you some ion reflectors. I would bet we will find all we need in those stacks of crates over there."
Garrett screwed the blaster tip into place. "Where’s Jallis and Layda?"
I replied, "They are attending to Garmon. Jallis wants to burn the remains; it’s what the Feldons do to honor their dead."
Garrett nodded. "Sometimes I wish I had some of the traditions that others have. I never knew my parents or my family. My parents and only uncle were killed just after I was born. At the time there was a lot of gang activity on Gannus IV. They got caught up in a robbery. The security forces never caught the culprits. Without family, I was spirited off to a government home. Gannus was going through a tough time back then, and they didn’t allow off-world adoption. My desire to catch bad guys was what led me to the Saltons’ security force."
As we stepped out through the gravity wall, Garrett continued, "Sure never thought I would end up somewhere like this."
I nodded. "I thought I would be enforcing the rules of space transport until they forced me into retirement. Being exiled to the far end of the galaxy, being caught up in slavery—those are things I could never have imagined."
Garrett laughed as he shook his head. "Well, at least our lives are not wanting for adventure. The craziness we have been through in the past year would send most over the edge."
I replied, "Indeed."
Garrett stopped and held out his hand for a shake. "Thanks for being the person of character that you are, Knog Beutcher. Had it been anyone but you who had been assigned to mentor Joni Salton, she would most certainly be dead. At the moment, we at least have hope that she is not."
I shook Garrett's hand. "I can think of no one else I would rather be trapped out here with."
Garrett looked at me. "Was that supposed to be a joke? If so, you really need to figure out how to add expression to that face so that others can see you are joking. That deadpan look takes a lot of the humor out of it."
As we turned back toward the crates, I continued, "That is the best we Gruntas can do. Humor is not a big part of our culture. I have only developed my sense of humor to the point I have after spending most of my life around Humans. Expressions, I will have to practice at that."
Garrett laughed. "I don’t know, with that mug, it might be hard if you are trying to get Humans to laugh anyway. You Gruntas have a very intimidating look to you to most people."
I stopped and stared, raising the ring around my right eye.
Garrett shook his head. "While that does strike me as funny right now, you are still intimidating, which is a good thing out here. You might wait to practice until we are back among the civilized masses."
A fire soon burned as the reddish-brown transport went up in flames. After stuffing the transport and the area around it with as many flammable materials as Jallis and Layda could find, they set the funerary pyre on fire. Garmon’s spirit burned brightly for one last time as he was released to be with his ancestors. I stood by the crates, watching quietly as Jallis’s and Layda’s silhouettes flickered as the flames burned in front of them.
Garrett grabbed me on the shoulder. "Check it out. I found a case of new ion reflectors over here. We can add another five cannons to that ship if we want. I can give you two that are forward facing and one for the back. They will be fixed so you'll have to aim them by flight. And I can add one to the top sensor turret for Jallis or Layda to control. I think we might just be able to turn the old cargo hauler into a warship yet."
I looked down at the reflectors that Garrett held in his hand. "Her name is the
Heap
. Jallis named her just after we landed."
Garrett looked back at the ship and smiled. "The
Heap
. I like it. It has a deadly sound to it."
When the transport bonfire had died down, Jallis returned to the ship. "I needed that. Give me another week, and I should be back to 100 percent physically as well. Tell me what I can help with."
Garrett pointed at a cache of parts he had collected. "Start piecing together another turret just like the last one. Layda, take over assembling this reflector combiner. I’ll take a look at where we can mount the forward and rear cannons."
I looked at Garrett. "What would you have me do?"
Garrett replied with a straight face. "You? You work on your facial expressions. Hahaha!"
Garrett collected himself and continued, "Help Layda with those reflector assemblies; we need four of them."
The remainder of the night and much into the next day was spent mounting the new cannons and bringing them online. Garrett pulled the nav computer that had previously been in the
Jess
from a storage crate and wired it up as a controller for the gun assemblies.