Dark Vengeance (32 page)

“Sure. Be right there.”

He arrived in flight coveralls carrying a steaming mug of something. He took a seat with a look of great curiosity. We sat in silence for a moment. I didn’t need to prep him. He read my expression.

“Oh boy,” he said. “This has got to be a good one.”

I explained the situation. His expression became businesslike without the slightest hint of worry.

“So what do we do when we find the thing? We take a hi-res X-ray of it, then stand back and figure out what we’ve got?” I asked.

“Absolutely not, Adrian. Boy, you haven’t been keeping your ordnance certs up, have you?”

“Who can find the time?”

“The days of X-raying bombs are long gone. The sophisticated ones have sensors. The first hint of the wrong kind of local radiation and boom, you’re done.”

“So what then?”

“I’ll tell you when I see the thing. Nowadays, they need to have made a mistake, otherwise it may be impossible to remove it.”

“Wrong answer, Perk. If that’s the case, I’d have to abandon my ship and set the self-destruct so it can’t be hijacked. It wouldn’t look good on my permanent record.”

“I’ve got to be honest with you, buddy. If they did everything absolutely right, you can’t open the thing and you can’t move it. Even if they did make a mistake, it will be iffy.”

As we sat in stalemate, the com signal sounded. Parth appeared on the wall viewer. “We have it already, Captain. It responded immediately to our first signal. It’s in main engineering.”

“I’ll be sending Perk Murphy down to meet you. Do whatever he tells you. I’ll join you as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“You wanted a close up, Perk. You’ve got it. Time to pull a rabbit out of your hat.”

“That would more likely be a miniature nuclear core out of our hat, Adrian, not a rabbit.”

“I’ll join you down there in a few minutes. I need to text R.J. an update so he’s ready if the unthinkable becomes necessary.”

When I reached engineering, they were gathered around one of the main blue-gray stanchions in an open area at the back of the operations center. The device was located midway between two of the power core vertical tubes. It was a metal box painted blue-gray to match the stanchion. It was the size of a suitcase and was mounted half way up the column. The carefully disguised container had no doors or seams. Perk was studying it from every angle. Parth and the two engineers were standing aside watching him with looks of disdain.

Perk stopped and looked over at me as I approached. He nodded. “They did make a mistake, Adrian. They probably had no choice. This was the only place they could get away with locating it. Parth has already taken infra red images. There is a tiny nuclear core in there. This is definitely what we’re looking for.”

“So what’s our option?”

“Okay, but I have to warn you. You’re not going to like it.”

“That much is certain. Go ahead.”

“We bring in one of those emergency support stanchions and fix it in place to take over the job of this one. We use cold laser cutters to cut the stanchion two feet above and two feet below. We program one of the core service robots to grapple the cut piece and walk it to a shuttlecraft in the hanger bay. The shuttle craft is programmed to take it away autonomously. When we’re clear, we destroy the shuttle.”

“Can you give me a little bit more?”

“These kinds have a proximity sensor built in. That’s the mistake they made. This thing knows it’s mounted to a stanchion. That’s all it knows. So if enough of the stanchion goes with it, it can be moved. The proximity sensor is intentionally a very low power unit to reduce the chance of it being detected. It only sees roughly two feet in every direction. If they had placed this thing somewhere complex, like near a operations console or closer to a core, there would be no way to move it. But in this case, as long as we take enough stanchion along, it will think it’s still where it’s supposed to be. The other tricky deal is, it must be moved at a snail’s pace so the motion isn’t detected, and it must remain orientated exactly as it is. So the core robot will need to be programmed for those conditions. Fortunately there is a small hanger bay on this level to support this engineering area. It’s straight through that service door over there. We can have the shuttle programmed and waiting.”

“And that’s the only option?”

“Yep, and there’s one more thing. We can’t dump this thing out at light speed. We have to stop, turn it loose, put some sublight distance between us, then come around and destroy it. And, there’s a chance when we go sublight it might not like that. That’s a chance we’ll have to take. What do you think?”

“We should hurry.”

There was no need for further prompting. Engineering was called to reinforce the stanchion and set up the laser cutting drill. The computer group went to work reprogramming the core service robot, and a shuttle pilot was called to move a shuttle into the lower bay and program it for an autonomous final departure. We could not conceal the matter any longer. The atmosphere in engineering quickly became one of stunned disbelief. A wave of gossip went out through the ship like the concussion wave from an explosion.

I hung out there at ground zero to watch the laser drill cut through the stanchion. This area of the ship, normally kept pristine, now had a dissipating layer of smoke along with a faint burning smell. There was the option to evacuate all non essential personnel, but since most of the crew was needed for what we were attempting it seemed like a bad idea. If we were somehow being monitored by an enemy, escape pods popping off Electra would be a dead giveaway and there was nothing to say a signal to detonate couldn’t quickly be sent in place of the delayed timer instructions. But, keeping everyone aboard was a gamble that weighed heavily on me.

By the time the upper end of the stanchion was set to be severed, the core robot was already in place. With excruciating slow micro movements, it gently grasped the stanchion behind the bomb. The laser drill fired to life once more and began the cut underneath. There was barely a sound to be heard above the power generation systems around the room.

We held our breath as the last inch of stanchion evaporated away below the bomb and then marveled at how the cut section had not moved even the tiniest bit in the powerful grasp of the robot. Power core repairs require the utmost in precision, making this brand of robot perfect for holding our lives in its pinchers. I nodded approval to the lead engineer who then carefully pressed an engage button on his tablet and the robot began the six inches-per-minute trip on its caterpillar tracks along the preplanned path to the hanger bay. Perk followed closely along like a doting mother.

It was a six-hour walk to the shuttle. We all continued to hold our breath for most of it. The hanger bay floors are designed to be non-slip so the surface is rough, but the robot’s steady state actuators weathered it well. A special ramp gave it gradual access to the shuttle’s main compartment. We stood by as the robot carefully held its bomb level and undisturbed as the shuttle doors closed behind it. I headed for the bridge.

On the bridge the main viewer was still looking forward. As R.J. gave up the command seat, we switched one viewer to the hanger bay. The moment of truth had arrived.

I took a long deep breath. “Mr. Page, all stop and station keeping.”

The bridge crew still did not know exactly what to expect, but they knew enough not to ask. “Yes, Sir. All stop.”

The stars on the viewer blurred and appeared to stop around us.

Page turned to face me. “At station keeping, Sir.”

“Mr. Bronson, clear the hanger and open hanger bay doors.”

“The hanger has already been evacuated, Sir. Opening the bay doors,” replied Bronson.

We watched stars and cold blackness appear as the bay doors opened.

“Mr. Bronson, engaged the shuttle’s programming.”

“Engaging now.”

For a moment, no shuttle movement could be detected. Then ever so gradually, as slow as the movement of the hour hand on a clock, the shuttle rose, then just as slowly began to move forward. It took another excruciating hour for it to depart the hanger, then another thirty minutes for enough separation to begin to move Electra away. The greater the distance between us, the faster we went. Only then did I and the others begin to breathe normally.

When our separation was .5 AU’s, I called to the helmsman. “Mr. Page, all stop and come around to target that shuttle. Bring it up on the main viewer. Full screen magnification.”

He looked back at me to be certain he understood, then nodded.

“Mr. Collins, as soon as you have a lock, you are cleared to fire.”

“Aye, Sir. Target acquired. Firing laser.”

“Screens up, Mr. Bronson.”

“Screens up, Captain.”

We watched the viewer light up like a strobe. A billowing orange cloud followed as the flash dimmed. A gentle wave of concussion passed over the ship. The cloud slowly dissipated into darkness.

“Mr. Page, return to previous heading and re-engage stellar drives.”

“Aye, Sir.”

Parth entered the bridge and before returning to his station came to the command seat, nodded to R.J., and spoke. “We transmitted another band of signals and received no replies, Captain. It was the only device aboard.”

“Very good, Mr. Sharma. You and I will need to have a discussion later about your persistent attention to detail.”

“Sir?”

I leaned forward and spoke in a low tone. “It’s a compliment, Parth. I’ll be putting you in for something before we reach Earth.”

“Oh, thank you, Sir.”

R.J. had heard everything. He blurted out a laugh causing everyone to jump and stare. The three of us exchanged restrained looks of jubilation.

Chapter 21

We dropped out of light exactly four hours from Earth, but just a tad bit late. Almost immediately, we had two other space cruisers on either side, escorting us to orbit. Orbital Traffic Controllers were unusually cheery. It was to be a synchronous orbit above KSC. We were warned there would be many comings and goings of dignitaries. Tours would be continuous for forty-eight hours.

When we arrived on orbit, a small armada was already waiting. They dotted the space around us like little silver stars, far more than I had anticipated. The first shuttle of visitors was already waiting for permission to dock.

All bridge duties complete, I sat back in my command seat expecting to be summoned for the typically idiotic kind of introductions and discussions I detest the most. Instead, Comm Officer Troy called to me. “Captain, incoming transmission from GSI. It’s marked confidential.”

“Send it to the port ready room, please.”

I pushed up and nodded to Helmsman Page.

In the ready room, a real time image of Admiral Provose appeared. His outward appearance was that of a man trying to look pleased with the present, while inwardly grave about the future.

“Adrian, nice to be able to have an actual conversation with you again. You have our thanks for bringing that jewel of a spacecraft home. I apologize for all the ceremonial posturing you’ll be doing. By the way, this is a secure channel. That being said, Intelligence received and translated the preliminary report you sent concerning your unscheduled stop on the way here. It is a very disturbing development. We are dispatching a special representative direct to Enuro to meet with the Enuro High Council to discuss how this happened. I am certain they will be as appalled as we were that such a device could have been planted on Electra. Although your report addressed this, I need to double-check; you were unable to detect any clues to the identity of the phantom ship that was involved?”

I took a seat at the main table. “They were very careful to mask their radar signature, Admiral. Tactical ran every test possible. The reflection was continuously changing shape. There was no appreciable definition.”

“But you were able to detect the signal they transmitted to the device?”

“Not initially. Only through the persistence of Life Science Officer Parth Sharma was the signal discovered. It was deeply buried in a field of solar radiation.”

“It was Sharma, eh? I’ve heard his name before. You may have a real ace there, Adrian.”

“No doubt about it, Admiral. I’ve already put him in for something.”

“I’ll personally see that it is approved. Let me ask you this, though. When you found the device, why didn’t you evacuate the ship immediately?”

“If they had been following us and they suspected we were on to them, they could possibly have set the thing off immediately.”

There was a thoughtful pause by the Admiral. “Yes, yes that’s only logical. You know, I hate to say this, but it’s surprising you were able to remove the thing.”

“We had Perk Murphy, Admiral. He ran that whole show. It was really something to see. They’ve already repaired the stanchion, by the way. I regret to say we have an empty shuttle position now and are minus one core service robot.”

“Murphy. My God, how many times has his name come up. I’ve lost count. You’ve got quite a crew there, Adrian.”