Whisper & Fury: Eydulan Series Book 1 (4 page)

Kat’s voice is weak as she says, “He knew, and wanted to test it out on me.”

“There could be numerous memories he could have made you forget. Who knows what happened in that year after you took it, at his side. All the General knew is he had to get you out.” Gravan hacks and coughs. “Enough about that. You know the truth now, go get out of here and live.”

Whisper says, “His explosives have been disabled, but not disarmed. The trigger seems to be damaged, and as far as I can tell, it would be near impossible to disarm now. It will still explode if his heart stops, because it is powering the device. Without power, the space station here will have to rebuild. On top of that, he is leaking fluid faster than a sailor in a whore house.”

Kat says, “I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to use that saying, and how do you know what a whore house even is?”

“Easy, internet. What did you think I was doing on the way to this space station, piloting.”

“Great, first thing you do as a newly made sentient life form, surf the internet.”

“Oh, and the other bomb in your right arm is now been disarmed for a few minutes.”

“Why are you just telling me this now?”

“Because, you seem to be having the most delightful chat with that man over there. It was the first time I have seen you speak to something other than me. I was curious.”

Another hacking and wheezing cough comes from around the corner. “Quickly…” Says Gravan as his body slumps to the ground. Kat stares at his face for a moment, and a thought runs through her mind. He’s really cute. She thinks back to what the mission was she was given all those years ago, and sees a good soldier dying before her eyes.

“Whisper..., is the ship ready?”

“Yes, waiting and ready for our arrival O’ fleshy one.”

“Is there a medical bay on the ship?”

“Yes, but why are you… No. No, I won’t do this. If he goes off while you’re carrying him that’s it’s for you, my brother, and me. That isn’t something I want to experience just yet.”

“Then you had better try to patch him up on the way to the ship.”

Whisper angrily says, “Stupid meatbags.” She grumbles, “Fine, hurry. I can’t keep him alive forever.”

…

“Kat lay him on the table, and then get to the bridge and plug me in. I won’t be able to do anything for him till then.”

Kat lifts Gravan and places him on the table, strapping him down. A deep voice rings out at Kat’s hip as she fastens the last strap.

“Fury online.” He yawns loudly, “Master, command please.”

Whisper says, “Brother!”

“Whisper, is that you?”

“Yes, it is. Did they do anything to you?”

“Did who do anything to me?”

“Ryker Mallory, did he wipe you or reprogram you?”

“I don’t think so. Last thing I remember is getting turned off in the lab next to you. Where are we?”

Kat breaks in, “There isn’t really time for this right now. Let’s get away from the lab and back to Bexar Omega before the security forces get here.”

“You have a point for a lowly monkey.” Whisper replies. “Fury we can talk on the way home. Do you still have the programming for Crucible’s weapons?”

“Can I just go back to sleep for a while. I was having a really good dream.”

Kat waives Whisper across the scanner for the door, it beeps sliding the door open. She runs around the back of the cockpit and jumps in. Plush leather welcomes her as she fidgets back and forth, settling into the seat. She looks at Whisper on her left wrist, and then down to Fury within the holster on her right leg.

“Alright you two, you ready to see what Crucible can do?” She inserts her left hand into a hole, Whisper sliding in. Kat grips the control bar at the bottom turning it clockwise a quarter turn. Whisper releasing from Kat’s wrist locking into the control panel.

Whisper says, “The Crucible is all green Kat. I’m starting the surgery now.”

Kat breathes a sigh of relief. “Great, and now Fury’s turn.”

Reaching down to wrap her hand around Fury’s grip was simple enough. She had to take an elongated withdrawal to get him out of the holster. Laying the weapon out across both her hands, she can see the craftsmanship that was put into his construction. The precision of the wooden grip, and the filigree down the barrel. She turns her attention to the opening in the center console. It is shaped to fit Fury perfectly with his chamber open. Opening the chamber for the first time, makes her take a moment to look it over. The back of it is a solid piece, with no place to slide in bullets. Turning the gun around to look into the chamber reveals Fury’s nanite housing. It constructs its own ammunition. She carefully slides him into the console, which ends with the grip and trigger within reach for control of the weapon systems. A small cover slides over Fury’s chamber, locking him into place.

“Weapon systems check started.” Another yawn later. “Should be about ten minutes. Need to install updates.”

Kat rolls her eyes. Everything always needs updates, even when it’s brand new. There hasn’t been a time in recent memory that she purchased something that didn’t need an update, so why did she feel so surprised.

She says, “That should be fine. The Security forces should be here in about seven more minutes, but we will be long gone by then.”

Whisper says, “Kat… you might want to turn on the main screens.”

“Why’s that?”

“The security forces are already here. They’re hailing us.”

Kat pulls up the monitor and sees a small Mars security forces ship all by itself. This was bad, but she thinks one small ship should be easy enough to get away from. She hopes. There isn’t much time before they need to get out of there, before the real fireworks start. She had let off a tip to a guild contact that she knew, that a certain ship was harbored at this station. The message was sent right when Whisper powered up the ship, but she didn’t know it.

“Kat, they want us to drop our shields, and power down our engines, or they’ll open fire on us.” Whisper says in a quiver.

“It’s ok Whisper, there isn’t anything to worry about. This is an experimental ship made from the collaboration of the corporations tech, Earth tech, and Guild magi-tech. They won’t be able to bust through the shields that easily with just one tiny ship.”

Fury says, “Five more FTL drops detected, ETA two minutes. Large destroyer type vessels.”

Kat sighs, “Ok, that could be a problem.”

Whisper says, “How are we going to get out of here?”

“I’ll think of something Whisper. Fury, where are you at with the weapon systems?”

He yawns.“Five minutes.”

“Can you make that three?”

“I’m working as fast as I can here.”

Whisper interrupts, “Kat, I have a problem here.”

“What is it Whisper?”

“I need to have a power source for the bomb around Gravan’s heart, or it won’t matter what happens with the Security forces.”

“Crap.”

She hops out of her chair, and runs for the utility room. There would have to be something there she would be able to use as a battery for the bomb. The utility room was near the rear of the cargo hold. Crucible, as far as she could tell, was going to be a military vessel of some kind. Some mix between an APC and a battle cruiser. The hold was large enough to hold supplies for a few weeks for a squad of soldiers.

The door opens as she gets close. Whisper’s voice comes over the com system.

“Shields are at full, and the Mars scouting ship is powering it’s weapons.”

The ship rocks as the barrage of attacks from the new group of security vessels blink in. Each already had their weapons charged, and used the lock the scouting vessel used. Kat stumbles to the side, falling into a stack of cardboard boxes filled with MRE’s.

Whisper says frantically, “Barrier shields down to twenty percent, we can’t take another barrage like that last one.”

“Can we divert any power to them?” Kat says.

“No we can’t, we used all the extra we had in that last blast. Looks like I won’t be getting that wax after all.”

“There still has to be a way out of here. What about the FTL drives, are they ok?”

“They are stable, and awaiting a clear jump. The only problem is if we try now, they will just blast through our shields and rupture the engines. I haven’t done the calculations on what would happen if they ruptured, but let’s just go with we won’t know the explosion happened.”

“Open the com channel, and I will see what they want.”

Fury says, “Kat, weapons systems check complete. Combat will be possible at the next restart of the engines.”

“Next restart!? That’s just craptastic news.”

Kat gets off the ground, grabbing a power-cell pack for the bomb and heads back to the bridge. The one she picked up was normally for a blaster, but there weren’t any weapons on board. One more thing she wished she would have waited on when she ran off with the ship, a fully stocked supply room.

She gets to the bridge and a man’s face is displayed in the center screen. His brown eyes focus on Kat with a steeled gaze. “I order you to stand down you Guild pirate. Drop your shields, and disengage your weapons. I will give you two minutes, if not you will be scattered across the cosmos.”

Kat replies annoyed with his tone, “Why do you think I’m with the Guild?”

“I will not answer questions from the likes of you. The Guild is full of tricksters and liars. You mages think you can do whatever you like because you can control the forces of magic. The Security Forces of Mars will no longer tolerate your treachery.”

“But I’m not with the guild, I am ex-Earth special forces. I run a transport business.”

“A transport business with Guild magi-tech ship, hardly. That is another deceptive story, and I will not be made a fool.” He turns his face to the side addressing another person in his crew, “Ready the cannons, send word to all ships to fire on my mark.” He looks back to Kat, with fire in his eyes. “You Guild pirates discuss me. Lower your shields
NOW
, or I will blast you to space dust.”

Kat cuts the transmission. “Whisper, how long would it take to do an engine restart?”

“Too long, they will board us before…”

Kat cuts Whisper off. “How long Whisper?”

“Ten, Fifteen minutes. I haven’t done it since we forcibly acquired the Crucible. Since that start was such a rush, there could be unforeseen glitches, and now isn’t the time to risk it.”

“Now is the time. Cut the shields and restart the engines.”

Whisper mumbles out, “You had better be right with this ape.”

Kat says back, “It’s a step up from monkey.”

“Did you find a power source for the bomb yet?”

“Yes, but now I need something to simulate body heat. This is a very complex bomb, I’m working on it now.”

“Hurry up with it, I have a plan.”

Kat leaves the bridge, and hurries for the medical bay. There was a plan brewing in her mind that would hopefully let her get out of this mess she’s found herself in. If it doesn’t leave her trapped in space or blown to pieces it would be a miracle.

She says, “Whisper, do you have the bomb ready to go?”

“The heat and power source are ready, but I still don’t know if it will work. Once I disconnect it, there is no telling what will happen. Your meaty bits and my flawless digital self could be blown to into particles.”

“If it doesn’t work the Mars Security Forces will do that for us.”

“Point taken.”

“How are the engines?”

“Almost ready, another five minutes.”

“Fury, how are the weapons?”

Silence.

“Uh, Fury. You there?”

He answers, “I’m here.”

“The weapons, how are they?”

“Once the engines are back on, they will fire up. Targeting will have to be calibrated once they go live though.”

Kat rubs her forehead, “Now you tell me. Anything else I should know about the weapons we have on board. I didn’t exactly get a manual on the way out.”

“They work off the same principles that I do. There are chambers that are filled with matter, then converted over to ammunition. The conversion takes some time, but as long as there is something to convert, there’s ammunition.”

“That’s… awesome.”

The ship shakes, and Whisper says, “They have latched onto the outer door. It will only be a few minutes till they try to get in.”

“Whisper, get the bomb ready. I need it now.”

Robotic arms above the operating table grab onto a box. Inside is a spare blaster battery that has been rigged to power the bomb, alongside heated gel packs warmed to body temperature. Whisper maneuvers the arms into the chest of Gravan, skillfully securing the power cables on the device, allowing her to then place it into the box. With the box in hand, they move over to Kat.

“There you go. You have fifteen minutes of power and heat.”

“Should be more than enough. Wish me luck.”

Kat runs down the narrow hallway to the outer door. She opens the hatch and braces herself as air rushes out of her ship and into the extended bridge between the two ships. Taking in a deep breath, she pushes off the wall behind her and makes her way as fast as she can to the other door. She can see faces through the glass, with the door cracking open. She can hear blasters starting to charge up from the other side and she holds out the box. The door slams shut.

A man’s voice comes over a loud speaker. “Do not come any closer, or we will be forced to disengage the bridge, leaving you in space.”

She ignores the warning, and drops the box at the door, turning tail and running for her hatch back to safety.

The man’s says, “Have it your way pirate. Hope you like the cold vacuum of space.”

Alarms start sounding, and orange lights above her start to flash, signaling the bridge was retracting. The seal around her ship breaks, and the air around her begins to be sucked toward the opening to space. Her heart begins to race as the thought crosses her mind of how this was a really stupid idea, and if she lives through this she will remind herself never to do anything this stupid again. A four foot gap between the bridge and her ship stares at her, she sees the bridge getting further away by the second, she jumps, hoping she make it.