Authors: Vaughn Heppner
“Meta goes with me,” Dana said.
Maddox’s gaze flickered to the cavewoman.
With her superior strength, Meta could be a problem aboard ship. He wasn’t sure he could take that risk.
“She’s from the Rouen Colony,” Dana said. “They’re miners, and they’re a clever bunch. Meta is an engineer. She can fix anything you give her.”
“Fine,” Maddox said, even as he still considered his options.
“Another thing—” Dana said.
“Shut up and listen,” Maddox told her. “Once we’re aboard, you’re going to have to figure out a way to hack into a space beacon.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re asking?”
“I do indeed, Doctor. You’re a computer genius, a hacker and a tech thief. This is your area of specialty.”
Dana’s dark eyes seemed to glow with resentment.
Even so, she gave a curt nod.
“
Another thing,” Maddox said. “On the ship, you’ll both wear security anklets. It will be on a probationary basis until I can trust you.”
“I see the ship!” Keith shouted
, pointing past the tallest tree.
Before Maddox could look,
his comm-unit beeped a warning. Lifting it to his mouth, he asked, “Lieutenant?”
“There are people
coming your way,” Valerie said, “a lot of them.”
“
Right,” Maddox said. “I want you to land…one hundred meters from my position. Crush whatever you have too to get down.”
“Those are some big trees, sir.”
“You can squeeze in,” he said.
“Those people I talked about,” Valerie said, “t
hey’re coming fast, sir.”
“Use the cannons
on them, Lieutenant. The weapons are there for a reason.”
“Roger, sir,” Valerie said
, sounding grim.
As a shadow passed overhead, Maddox looked up at the scout. He’d never seen anything so beautiful. They were actually going to leave Loki Prime.
The antigravity pods hummed. Then the twin cannons spat shells. Explosions, crashing trees and screams told Maddox how near the mob was—almost on top of them. He was thankful for the thick foliage slowing the mob. Seconds later, the cannon firing stopped, and the scout came down.
“You,” Maddox said, pointing his gun at Meta. “
Help the sergeant.”
Splintering sounds and a thud shook the ground
. A hatch opened. The comm-unit squawked, and Lieutenant Noonan said, “I’m down, sir. Let’s go.”
Maddox needed no more urging than that.
The first people broke through foliage as Keith scrambled through a boarding hatch. Meta helped
Sergeant Riker, and Dana staggered after them. Maddox brought up the rear.
The Loki Prime criminals shouted for them to stop, like lost souls in Hell screaming for a reprieve.
The desperate cries chilled Maddox. He glanced back. Men and women were equally red-faced with their mouths opened as wide as possible. Several aimed flintlocks, firing. Puffs of smoke appeared. Wooden pellets rattled against
Geronimo’s
outer skin.
Meta pushed Riker ahead
of her, clambering in after him. Dana rushed to the hatch, diving through. Maddox came in next. A pellet followed, ricocheting around the hall but thankfully striking no one.
Maddox would have shut the hatch
, but he had other worries.
Meta whirled around with determination etched
on her wide face. What she meant to do was anyone’s guess. Before she could reach Maddox, Sergeant Riker’s bionic arm yanked her back, causing her to stumble.
Under normal circumstances,
Maddox might have grinned. The shouting in the distance sounded like those outside Noah’s Ark demanding a berth when the rains first began.
“We’re in,”
the captain said over the comm-unit. “Get us out of here, Lieutenant.”
Ship e
ngines whined and antigravity pods hummed. With a lurch,
Geronimo
lifted.
“
Get on your stomachs!” Maddox shouted, aiming his gun at Meta and indicating Dana with his chin.
They hesitated for a half-second. Then
, Dana complied and Meta followed suit. Maddox reached out, catching the hatch. The ship was already twenty feet up and climbing. People stared at them, imploring with raised arms. Men and women begged for the ship to return and take them off Loki Prime.
Feeling like a scoundrel but desperately glad to be aboard
the scout, Maddox shut the hatch with a
clang
. He turned the wheel and wanted to relax. He couldn’t, though. There was too much to do still.
Upon entering the ship,
Keith had stumbled away and now brought him security anklets. Maddox programmed each, snapping one on Dana’s ankle and another on Meta’s. It was a simple system. For now, the bulky anklet would shock the wearer if she approached the control or engine room too closely.
“Ensign,” he told Keith. “
Go pilot the ship. Have the lieutenant plot a course that will avoid the destroyer. If she doesn’t know
Saint Petersburg’s
location, tell her to find it in a hurry.”
The ace ran down the corridor.
“You,” he told Meta, “in there. If you want to, use the shower. Soon enough, we’ll run you through medical and rid you of Loki germs.”
Meta
climbed to her feet and went into the head. Maddox closed the hatch behind her.
“
Help him and follow me,” he told Dana.
The doctor
guided Sergeant Riker to medical. Maddox took him afterward and hooked the sergeant to the robo-doctor.
“You should let me
examine him,” Dana said.
Maddox looked up.
“I didn’t realize you were that kind of doctor.”
“I’m full of surprises.”
Maddox thought about it and nodded.
Dana
approached the control panel. She examined the readout, and she tapped in commands. Hypos hissed, dosing the sergeant with antibiotics.
“He’s going to be here a few days,” Dana said. “Loki organisms are incredibly resistant to treatment.”
“Is he all right for the moment?” Maddox asked.
“He should be, although I’d like to check up on him in a half-hour.”
“We may not have the luxury,” Maddox said. “You’re coming with me to the control room.”
Dana pointed at he
r anklet.
“I have a temporary override code
,” he said, tapping it in to his control unit. “There, we’re set.”
They
exited medical and walked down the corridor. Her anklet beeped, flashing a warning red, and she stopped short. Maddox rechecked his unit. He must have been more exhausted than he realized, as he’d made a mistake.
“There,” he said.
“I fixed it.” A green light appeared on her anklet.
Dana
gave him an indecipherable glance before opening the hatch. An argument was in progress between Valerie and Keith. The ace sat in the pilot’s chair. The lieutenant tapped her instruments, studying data.
“Enough!” Maddox said, entering behind Dana. “
What’s the problem?”
“
Saint Petersburg
is upstairs above us,” Keith said. “Valerie is saying to race around the world down here. I say we lift and go just under the high cloud cover. There’s too much air density down here to travel fast enough. That means we’ll crawl, and even though the destroyer has to cover more territory, they’ll match us.”
Inhaling,
Valerie likely made ready to explain her view.
“We don’t have time,” Maddox told the lieutenant. To Keith
, he said, “Take us up.”
“Sir,” Valerie said
, sounding indignant.
“
Didn’t you just hear me?” Maddox asked her. “We don’t have time for discussions. You,” he told Dana, “go there.” He indicated his regular spot. “That’s where you’re going to do your magic.”
The doctor sat down and began to familiarize herself with the controls.
Maddox wanted to slide down onto his butt and close his eyes. Now was the time to concentrate, though. Clearly, he faced the most dangerous opponent of his life, the New Man.
“Here’s the situation,”
Maddox told Valerie. “At least two New Men are down on the surface. One’s dead. I believe they came down from the
Saint Petersburg
.”
“What?” the lieutenant
asked. “That’s incredible. You can’t be serious.”
“
You must have monitored an orbital firing two missiles,” Maddox said.
Lieutenant Noonan nodded.
“The missiles struck a Star Watch shuttle on the ground,” Maddox said. “The personnel tortured criminals to find her,” he said, jerking a thumb at Dana. “The New Men were on the
Saint Petersburg
. What that means is that we have to win this little game of cat and mouse with the destroyer. I’m betting the New Man on the surface has found my clearance code in the flitter. That means they can mask themselves from the orbitals just as we’re doing. That’s good news for them and us.”
“I don’t see how
it’s good for us,” Valerie said.
“Don’t you see?” Maddox asked. “The
Saint Petersburg
will likely send another shuttle down to pick up the New Man. That will allow us time to flee.”
“Even if that’s true,” Valerie said, “don’t you think the
monitor’s crew knows something here is wrong?”
“Forget
about them for now,” Maddox said. “They’re far away at the chthonian planet. Do you have a fix on the
Saint Petersburg
?”
“Yes,” Valerie said.
“Are we cloaked?” Maddox asked.
“No, sir,”
Valerie said. “The cloak isn’t any good in an atmosphere. The destroyer must know where we are.”
“
Compared to us,” Dana said, speaking up, “the destroyer has the high ground. They’ll just shoot us down.”
“Y
es,” Maddox said, sarcastically. “You make a brilliant point. But I want you to concentrate on the space-beacon hacking. Let us handle this end.”
“
She’s Doctor Dana Rich?” Valerie asked.
“
Correct,” Maddox said.
“I’m glad to make your acquaintance,” Valerie said. “I’m—”
“Stow the welcoming committee routine,” Maddox shouted. “Fixate on the destroyer and how to outmaneuver it.”
“
Do you charm everyone, mister?” Dana asked him.
Maddox glowered at her.
Doctor Rich turned back to the instrument panel.
The scout rose rapidly as the planetary surface receded. Soon the jungle trees merged back into a vast green carpet.
It was impossible to tell the mountain peaks: the abode to human bacterium living on the spore-infested nodes of existence.
The thought
once again caused Maddox to feel the intense relief from escaping the jungle world and its ruthless germs. No doubt, once this was all over, Star Watch Intelligence would demand a detailed report on life on Loki Prime. If people wanted criminals to suffer for their crimes, the judicial arm had picked the perfect planet for it.
“Sir,” Valerie said. “A
destroyer shuttle is dropping to the surface.”
“This is it,” Maddox said. “My guess is the destroyer will wait to
pick up the New Man and my flitter. It’s our chance to make a run into space away from the
Saint Petersburg
.”
“What if you’re wrong?” Dana
asked. “Why don’t they have the shuttle pick up the New Man and wait in orbit? The destroyer can hunt us down and come back for it later.”
“No,” Maddox said. “
Lieutenant Noonan made an excellent point a few minute ago. It’s possible the SWS monitor at the Class 1 tramline entrance will have detected the shuttles. If not, the Star Watch commander out there is sure to detect the missiles or beams.”
“What beams?” Dana asked.
“The ones the destroyer will use on us to obliterate our scout. If
Saint Petersburg
shows its attacking someone on Loki Prime, the monitor will have to investigate. That means the destroyer will have to flee the system. Despite their superiority at tactics, even a New Man-captained destroyer can’t beat an SWS monitor. What that means is the destroyer will first have to pick up the shuttle before it chases us, because if they want to escape the star system, they won’t have time later to come back to pick up the shuttle and the stranded New Man.”
“Sounding confident
about a thing doesn’t make it true,” Dana said. “You’re guessing, and you could be wrong.”
“Fair enough,” Maddox said. “I’ve noted your displeasure
with my decision.” He turned to Valerie. “Show me the destroyer’s position relative to us.”
The lieutenant
put it on her screen. The destroyer paced them overhead.
Saint Petersburg
had come down to Low Loki Orbit.
“Let’s open it up,” Maddox
told Ensign Maker. “We need velocity.”
“The atmosphere
will make it difficult for us, Captain,” Keith said.
“
I know,” Maddox said. “It’s going to get hot in here. Unfortunately, I don’t see any other way to do this.”
“Aye-aye, Captain,” Keith said, who began to tap his panel.
The minutes passed as Ensign Maker increased velocity. They reached Mach 10, 11, 12. Soon, they flew at Mach 18. It wouldn’t take much longer to reach escape velocity. The ship’s air-conditioning systems already hummed. The vessel shook as air turbulence struck it.
“Captain, a missile is heading
down at us from the
Saint Petersburg
. Correction,” Valerie said, “two missiles.”
“Slave the combat equipment to me, love,” Keith said. “I know exactly what to do.”
Valerie glanced at Maddox.
“Do it,”
the captain said.
“We don’t want to launch chaff right away,” Keith said. “This is a heat-seeking missile, but I expect radar lock-on from
the
Saint Petersburg
. They should be able to guide the missile to us. We’ll make them think we’re doing something different than what we’re really going to do.”
“What are we doing?” Valerie asked.
“Putting your life into my hands,” Keith said. “It isn’t misplaced.”
Several
minutes passed.
“The
missiles are closing fast,” Valerie shouted. “They’re Talos Seven class, variant E-3.”
“
This is perfect,” Keith said. He slapped a control. “Grab your seats ladies, and gentlemen, sir.”
Maddox watched the lieutenant’s screen. Chaff flittered out
from the rear of the scout. Then,
Geronimo
swiveled, turning one hundred and eighty degrees so they faced the approaching missiles. The ship began to buck and wave as it flew backward.
“Couldn’t do this without the antigravity pods,” Keith muttered. “Hang on, love.”
Despite the missiles’ speed, they swerved around the chaff. It seemed as if the ace had used the silvery particles as a make-shift shield.
Clever
, Maddox thought.
“Now I have you,”
Keith muttered. He pressed the trigger controls. Shells sped at the two bogeys. One Talos Seven variant E-3 missile disintegrated in midair. A second later, the other exploded, making a black cloud in the air.