Guardians of the Galactic Sentinel 1: The Deimos Artifact (22 page)

The first of the six pulses went just slightly wide to the enemy's starboard side. The second was a direct hit but was absorbed by the shields of the converted freighter. As had been the case just a few minutes earlier, the strike lit up the enemy shield envelope with a deep violet glare. The third pulse, also a direct hit, flared the shield up through violet to a blinding white before fading to nothing, indicating complete shield failure. The fourth pulse tore into the exact center of the nose of the now helpless enemy craft, dealing what had to be severe, possibly even catastrophic damage. The fifth pulse scored another direct hit near the nose of the ship, this time just slightly to port. The sixth pulse was another near miss to port, not that it mattered much.

Using the magnification on his monitor to zoom in on the crippled freighter, Zack could immediately see that the damage was extensive. There were two charred and ragged holes in the bow end of the freighter, one of them just above the makeshift gun emplacement. To his immense relief, the business end of the pulse projector itself appeared to be missing, replaced by a charred and shortened stump. In just under five seconds, the heavily armed freighter had been left in tatters and her Captain had no choice but to take his ship out of the fight. Drifting to starboard, trailing atmosphere and fluids, the crippled ship began to limp away from the
Capri
at the best speed she could manage.

"Way to go, Zack!" said Ariane, "Looks like we took him out of the action!"

"Should I hit him again?" asked Zack, his blood running hot from the battle.

"Negative, Zack," said MacPherson, "We need to keep an eye on him, but he's most definitely on the ropes. We're not murderers!"

"I'm with you, Dad," replied Ariane, "I'm attempting to engage the remaining enemy ships. Is that weapon ready?"

Zack checked the weapons console and was again relieved to see nothing but green lights. He had also noted from the pulse beam signatures picked up by his weapons console that the ship they had just defeated seemed to be the only one of the three aggressors outfitted with any of the powerful Soviet weapons.

"Ready to go, Captain! By the way, I'm not detecting the signature of any more Soviet weapons. The remaining ships shouldn't have near as much firepower."

"I'm going to give you another ten seconds of level flight, Zack," said Ariane, "Target the larger of the two remaining ships. It looks to have more weapons than the other one. Fire as soon as you have a lock."

"Aye, Captain," replied Zack, working the hand and foot controls to spin the turret while, at the same time, altering the projector elevation as he hastened to comply.

"Commencing ten seconds of level flight, now!" said Ariane.

"Targeting the larger ship now!"

Zack used the weapon's targeting computer to line up the shot and programmed another six pulse spread on his new target. The indicator on the targeting display turned from red to amber to green as the computer achieved a lock on the target. Zack triggered the firing stud with his right thumb and, over the next two seconds, watched as another spread of pulses streaked out from the
Capri
, this time towards the larger of the two remaining enemy ships. Once again, the aim was true, but the distance was considerably further and only two of the pulses appeared to have been direct hits. Ariane immediately resumed evasive maneuvering.

The shields on the larger ship flared briefly into an intense violet hue. In the meantime, almost as if the Viking Captain had coordinated his defensive efforts with the
Capri
, two pulses from the Viking ship made direct hits on the smaller of the two ships. Before either Zack or the Viking could line up another shot, the two attackers, apparently not at all impressed with the odds since the
Capri
had joined the fight and immediately taken out a third of their force along with their most powerful weapon, turned tail and ran. They lined up in a loose defensive formation, obviously intended to protect their badly wounded companion, and all three of the enemy ships left the scene in full retreat.

"Thank you,
Capri
,"
sent the Captain of
Warbird Three.
"
We were in some real trouble. Good thing you came along when you did."

"No problem,
Warbird Three
," replied Ariane, "To tell you the truth, we came out here to see if we could meet up with Holger Tvedt. Do you know where we can find him?"

"We can take you right to him, as soon as another one of our ships gets out here to monitor the hyperlink zone. Can you wait an hour or so?"

"No problem," answered Ariane, "In the meantime, do you require assistance?"

"There's probably not much you can do,"
replied the Viking Captain,
"Unless you've got a full-function autodoc on board?"

"We don't," replied Ariane, "How bad did they hurt you?"

"Could have been a hell of a lot worse! We took a few casualties. I got two dead and another two that are hurt pretty bad. Got another seven or eight that got hurt, but most of those are just minor injuries."

"How did you wind up in that predicament?" asked Ariane. "Looks to me like you've got enough firepower and protection to be more than a match for all three of those ships."

"Normally we would be, but the hopped-up cannon that freighter was packin' was a real game changer!"

"I know," replied Ariane, "that was a Matsukov pulse projector."

"Matsukov?"

"It's the latest Soviet technology. Very powerful and very dangerous."

"We noticed. That cannon wasn't the only thing different about this attack, though. They did something else they haven't done before."

"What was that?"

"They staged a really well-coordinated attack. All three of them phased through the hyperlink point at almost the same time and then all three turned on us at once and hit us with every single weapon from all three ships at almost the same time. The first two ships stressed my shields to overload with multiple hits and then that damned freighter took out one of my reaction engines and knocked my main weapons offline with a single shot from that damned cannon. We kept working on getting the weapons back up, but that freighter kept us on the ropes, hammering us every thirty seconds or so with that big gun. Meantime the other ships kept whittling away at us with their smaller guns. As I said, glad you came along."

"Glad to be of service."

"By the way, that's a pretty fine set of pulse cannons you've got there yourselves!"

"They do come in handy," said Ariane.

The
Capri
and
Warbird Three
exchanged occasional messages for another half hour, until the other two Viking
Warbirds
arrived. After checking with their wounded companions, one of them, a ship even smaller than the
Capri
, left to assume guard duties out at the hyperlink point. The other remained with
Warbird Three
to render assistance and escort the damaged ship back to the Viking base. Right after the reinforcements arrived, Zack retracted and secured the turret before joining Ariane and the Professor back on
Capri's
bridge.

"Follow us,"
said the Captain of
Warbird Three
. "
Here are your sublight coordinates."

"Your sublight drive is okay?" asked Ariane, as she received and programmed the strings of numbers into the navigation computer, located just to the right of her master command unit.

"As far as we can tell. I guess we'll find out shortly. Sublight in thirty seconds."

"Right behind you," sent Ariane.

The
Capri
and the two
Warbirds
phased into sublight almost simultaneously a half-minute later.

Chapter 26.
The Pirate King.

Sol System, Deep Space, July 13, 2676.

The three ships remained in sublight space for just over three hours. Shortly after transitioning out of sublight and returning to normal space, Ariane's instruments informed her that
Capri
and her Viking companions were approaching some sort of major contact. Zack and Professor MacPherson had again joined Ariane on the bridge

"Got something on the sensors," she said.

"Any idea what it is?" asked Zack.

"No, but...it's big..." She consulted her instruments again, "...really big, that and it doesn't appear to be moving."

"That will be the pirate colony," said MacPherson, back on station and monitoring communications at the first officer's console. "Just hold on, they should be contacting us shortly."

The
Capri
continued to run in formation with the wounded Viking ship and her escort for several more minutes before receiving a communication.

"
Capri
? Be advised that you have entered Viking Space."

Ariane replied, "This is
Capri
. We are an exploration vessel on an archeological expedition. We come in peace."

The pirate communication continued,
"Acknowledged,
Capri
. You will proceed to these coordinates and stand by to be boarded."

A set of coordinates appeared on Ariane's command console. She began entering them into the
Capri's
navigation console.

"I have another spaceship contact," said Ariane. "This one is smaller and coming right at us."

"Is it another one of the, ah...Viking ships?" asked Zack.

"Hard to tell, but it's moving really fast."

"Leave the shields down," said MacPherson, "They'll take that as confirmation of our peaceful intent."

"As if saving
Warbird Three
wasn't indication enough?" asked Zack.

The Professor shrugged, "They're Vikings and we're in their space. Best we play by their rules. Believe me, they won't forget what we did. Holger can be a bit..." MacPherson paused while searching for the right word, "...obtuse, sometimes, but he's generally pretty even-handed. We just need to be patient."

The fast-moving ship swung away from its dead ahead course and curved around to
Capri's
port side. The pilot executed a huge, almost lazy arc, decelerating the entire time and, within a few minutes, had curved around behind them before pulling alongside and matching course with the
Capri
. The ship wound up flying in formation less than a kilometer off from the starboard side of the yacht.

"That's a Federation F-901 gunboat!" exclaimed Zack, "That thing has to be at least thirty years old."

"Holger always has taken really good care of his weapons," observed MacPherson, "That and he likes to put on a good show."

Old or not, the little craft had a very purposeful appearance, equipped as it was with a pair of very prominent pulse beam projectors, one on the end of each of the craft's stubby winglets and an array of what looked like ship-to-ship missiles lined up across its belly. The pilot of the gunboat contacted the
Capri
.

"
Capri
? This is
Hornet Nine
, I'll be escorting you to the rendezvous point."

Warbird Three's
temporary escort left the formation and the remaining three ships traveled the rest of the way to the meeting point without further communication.

The large contact that Ariane had detected earlier appeared in the forward viewscreen, and began to grow progressively larger as they closed in on it. Zack shook his head in disbelief, "That's a Federation Navy Class II Orbital Station! It has to be even older than that gunboat! How in Space did a band of...Viking outlaws get their hands on something like that?"

"You'll have to ask Holger, he loves to tell that story," said MacPherson. "By the way, they call it '
Midgard
,'".

"Why didn't you tell us any of this before?" asked Zack.

"Would you have believed me?" said MacPherson, "I think it better that you got your introduction the same way I did."

Zack discovered he didn't have a reply for that.

Warbird Three
bid them farewell as they got closer to the Viking colony
, "Thanks again for your assistance,
Capri
. We've already put in a good word with King Holger."

"You're welcome,
Warbird Three
."

The
Capri
and her gunboat escort arrived at the assigned coordinates and decelerated to rest within a kilometer or so of the huge station. Up close, the size of the ancient facility was almost overwhelming, but there were also signs of considerable age and indications that the old station had seen more than her share of combat. There were badly damaged areas here and there and scorch marks where she had taken pulse beam strikes from what had to have been some unimaginably powerful weapons. However, four of the huge pulse beam projectors of the station's formidable defensive weaponry were, ominously, pointed directly at the
Capri
.

"I guess we prepare to be boarded," said Zack. "How do you suppose they'd have greeted us if we
hadn't
helped them?"

"I think I'm the one who has the most to worry about," said MacPherson, "We'd better have Cliff get out a case of those weapons we brought along." Zack gave him an alarmed look.

The Professor responded, "No, Zack, it would be foolhardy for us to try and fight them. I'm thinking it won't hurt to provide them with a bribe...Um,...token of our good will. Just in case."

Ariane called down to engineering and Cliff replied that he and Arnold would get right on it.

Within a few more minutes, a standard shuttlecraft came out of one of the open ship bays of the station. It maneuvered alongside before docking expertly with the front airlock of the
Capri
. Both craft were equipped with standard docking hardware and the shuttle had no difficulty in connecting a short docking tube to the
Capri
.

"Looks like we'd better get down to the airlock area," said Ariane.

"Right behind you," said Zack.

Zack, Ariane and MacPherson headed down to the airlock receiving area and waited for the next set of developments. With compatible docking mechanisms connected by the pressurized tube, there was no need for the crew of either ship to depressurize their respective airlocks. The three of them heard and felt the machinery of their outer airlock doors operating.

"Open your inner airlock door, please,"
came a request over the airlock intercom.

Ariane touched the control panel next to the airlock door and stood back as the door cycled open. All three of the
Capri's
crewmembers felt a perceptible drop in air pressure as the slightly greater pressure inside the
Capri
equalized with the slightly lower pressure in the shuttle's interior.

Four burly men in ancient, but still very serviceable battle armor, fanned out into the airlock receiving area on the
Capri
. Each carried a formidable-looking but somewhat older pulse rifle. The Viking soldiers were not pointing their weapons directly at anyone, but it was clear to all that the situation could change in an instant if the need arose.

A deep, booming voice came out of the airlock, "Marvin Pangbourne? Are you in there? You and I have much to discuss!"

A huge, armor-clad man came through the airlock door carrying the helmet for his armor under his left arm. He was a good half head taller than any of the guards, who were themselves somewhat larger than average, and he was very wide across the shoulders. It was hard to tell for sure, but the form-fitted armor made him look to be lean and muscular. Like a Viking of old, he wore a full beard and mustache though he maintained them and his somewhat shaggy blond hair cropped fairly short so he could safely wear the armor or a spacesuit.

His face broke out into an angry scowl as he caught sight of MacPherson.

"MacPherson? You no good son of an Arcturan she-rat! I thought I told you never to come back here! Take him, boys."

"Hello to you too, Holger," said MacPherson.

The Professor made no attempt to put up a struggle as a couple of Tvedt's bodyguards each grabbed him by one of his arms and marched him through the airlock and on to the shuttle.

"Where's that scoundrel Pangborne?" said Tvedt, as he set his unused helmet down on one of the work tables, leaving both hands free.

"He's dead, King Tvedt," said Zack.

"Dead? How?"

"He was... in an accident back on Haven."

"And who might you be?"

"My name is Zack Lynton. Marv was my uncle."

The big Viking lost his scowl and some of his bluster, "My condolences, Boy. I'm truly sorry to hear that. Marv was a good man, a hard bargainer, but a good man nonetheless."

"What are you going to do with MacPherson?" asked Ariane.

The King of the Vikings gave her a sly and amused look, "Probably not much," he replied. "I'll make him stew for a while though. He swindled me out of some pretty valuable artwork a couple of years ago. And who might you be?"

Ariane looked to be at a loss for words. Zack wondered if she would use her alias again or give Tvedt her real identity. He decided that since they had decided to place their lives in the hands of the Viking band, honesty was probably the best policy.

"Her name is Ariane MacPherson," said Zack.

Ariane gave her companion a startled look that morphed immediately into an angry glare.

"Any relation?" asked Holger.

"The Professor is my father," Ariane grudgingly admitted.

"This is priceless," said the big Viking, "Though you're way too good looking to be related to the likes of him," he added, with a twinkle in his eye. Ariane gave him an exasperated look.

Seeking to put some philosophical distance between Ariane and himself on the one hand and whatever the Professor had done during his last meeting to get on the wrong side of the big Viking on the other, Zack ventured: "Ariane and I haven't been involved with any of the Professor's dealings until just recently, Your Majesty. We teamed up with him only about a week ago."

"You can call me, Holger," said Tvedt, "We're not long on formality out here." The big man looked back and forth between Zack and Ariane. "What is it that brings you all the way over here to the Sol System, anyway?"

Zack decided to go all-in. Marv had said in his notes that the Viking could be trusted and there was something about the big man's attitude that seemed to reinforce his uncle's advice. Besides, they had come to the Viking colony in the first place to see if they could get some answers.

"We're here looking for information about the artifact that Marv bought the last time he was out here," said Zack. That response earned him another angry glare from his Intelligence officer.

"That damned thing?" said Tvedt, shaking his formidible head, "I might have known."

"There's more," said Zack, "We did our best to ditch them, but we could have someone following us."

"Any idea who?" asked Holger.

"We think it's someone from the Soviet Bloc," said Ariane.

Holger thought for a moment and then nodded his head, "It kinda makes sense," he said. "It was probably them that put those stinkin' Hedgies up to attacking our picket ship. That would also explain how one of those ships came to be equipped with a Soviet weapon. I hope to the black depths of Helheim that they don't have too many more of the damned things!"

"Hedgies?"

"Yeah, it's short for the Jovian Hegemony," replied Holger, "They even use the nickname themselves sometimes. I don't think the Soviets or the Hedgies pose much of a threat to us here on Midgard, but if the two of them are in cahoots then the surprise attack on
Warbird Three
makes a lot more sense."

"Why is that?" asked Zack.

"Because something must have changed to make the Hedgies want to start hostilities again. We've been operating under a truce that's held for almost five years now. They know damned well that we'll hit them hard to retaliate. Normally we'd just put together a raiding team and go out and whack 'em good. In fact, it may be that they're counting on it. If they've got Soviet backing, and Soviet weapons, we're gonna have to be a lot more careful. Thanks for the warning."

"Glad we could help," said Zack.

"It's okay," replied Holger, "We'll handle it somehow. We always do. Come and get on board the shuttle. A proper discussion about all this is probably gonna take a while. We might as well go over to
Midgard
and get comfortable. Is there anybody else on board?"