MoonRush (29 page)

And then
,
all the blinking lights turned red.

Weigner started out of his antihuman reverie, realization dawning. These satellites were not what they seemed. Not remotely. He took a closer look at the mechanical stars surrounding the ship. The sleek communications array began transforming, dishes turning into armor, antennae converting to weaponry.

“Stavros!” Weigner whirled to face the captain in time to watch the man stiffen, clearly irritated at the casual use of his last name. Insufferable ignoramus. “It might perhaps be expedient to peruse the satellites surrounding our craft more thoroughly.”

“Weapons! I want a report on those satellites immediately.” Stavros pointed a finger at the array. Each of the mechanical stars reoriented itself, tracking the
Eclipse
as it passed.

The weapons officer checked the instrumentation,
and
then cried out, “They’re attack satellites!”

Weigner accessed the information he had on these attack satellites. One of the many projects he had been consulted on, this “defense” weapon had been deemed unsuitable for the U
.
S
.
government to pursue
because of
the political climate at the time. This particular model had been purchased and further developed by the Chinese, ostensibly to ward off any potential alien threat. No one planetside had ever bought in to that particular piece of propaganda. Part of that might have been that the satellites were all facing the
E
arth, rather than away from it.

The devices were designed to mimic a typical communications satellite, but closer examination revealed titanium armor, mini-laser cannons…

And mines.

Weigner spun to warn the captain just as an explosion rocked the ship and left dozens of warning light
s
on
in its place.

Stavros yelled, “Evasive—
!
” but
he
was cut off by another explosion.

It was clear that no ship, however technologically advanced, could hold up under that kind of barrage. Weigner positioned himself closer to the captain, knowing
that
his expertise here could make the difference between their survival and ultimate demise. He studiously ignored the sour look directed at him by the stiff-backed Stavros.

The attack satellites crouched with their red lights blinking like so many hyenas on the plains of the Serengeti. Each satellite was a small armada, filled with enough firepower on its own to cripple their shuttle. Watching more closely, Weigner observed as the satellites continued to launch a slew of tiny mines, covering the space through which the shuttle was slated to pass. Once each satellite extruded its deadly payload, it zoomed back to resume its beady-eyed observation of the
Eclipse
as she moved forward.

One more blast shook the ship. If explosions were enough to penetrate the dampening effect of the field, the damage th
e ship was
taking must be spectacular.

Self-preservation
asserted
itself. Exercising the fullest extent of his tact, Weigner addressed the captain. “Sir?” Stavros, clearly surprised at the title, turned to observe the scientist. “I am familiar with this design. The pattern here will be to disable the ship with the mines, at which point the satellites will swarm over us, attaching themselves and dismembering the ship with their lasers.”

“Thank you, Doctor. We will take care of this.” Stavros turned his back
on him
, dismissing Weigner as if he were one of the many underlings floating about the shuttle.

The doctor reached out and
took
hold of the captain’s arm. Stavros whirled about, shock coloring his face. He jerked his arm out of Weigner’s hand
.
He
open
ed
his mouth, more than likely to reproach the doctor for his physical impropriety.

Weigner had no time for this. “Captain. These satellites will tear this ship apart. From my observations, I have extrapolated some of its capabilities. Ones you are clearly underutilizing. That is a mistake.”

The captain’s jaw worked for a moment. When he did speak, his tone was frosty. “Dr. Weigner. The capabilities of this ship are a tightly held state secret. We will only demonstrate the full extent of its weaponry if no other option
s are
available. You did notice that those are satellites we are up against? Ones that could broadcast to our enemies exactly what this ship can do?”

Weigner’s opinion of the captain was dropping faster than their chances of survival. “And, Captain, I am telling you that we are well past the point of having options here. We are surrounded by some of the most deadly weapons known to deep space.”

Shockingly, the captain responded by chuckling. “Doctor, you have no idea what this shuttle can do.”

With no warning to the hovering satellites, the
Eclipse
whipped about, showing a dexterity never seen before in any previous shuttle. Out here in the void of space, she was completely in her element. Using her jets, the
Eclipse
detonated the chain of mines, the reacting explosions leading right back to the offending satellites. The resultant explosions were impressive.

Weigner found that he had very little to say at this point. He readjusted his jaw to allow his mouth to once more hinge shut.

Correcting course in a matter of moments, the
Eclipse
glided past what was once hostile territory and soared into empty space.

As the crew returned to their seats, Captain Stavros gave the doctor a hard smirk, then gazed beyond the blackness of space and murmured, “Now comes the hard part.”

The doctor fe
lt his heart sink to the floor.

* * *

Jarod had thought that the hangar at the junkyard had been their low point as far as decrepit machinery was concerned. It was now clear that he had been dead wrong.

Okay, so the fact that he had purchased the ship from a destitute guy in a shantytown
—
who
was
recommended by a bouncer in a strip club
—
might
have given him some clue. But even the
circumstances
lead
ing
up to this couldn’t have prepared him for what he faced right now.

This was a frankenjunker.
Not
a single piece of ship
was new or unpatched, and he could see the repair attempts
. One main part of the hull had half of a NASA emblem in the process of peeling off, which meant that metal was at least thirty-eight years old. That wasn’t the worst part of it, though. The reason
that only
half of the emblem
remained
wasn
’
t because the other half had worn off
. Instead,
the hull had been cut and then welded together with some other random piece of metal.

It was not Jarod’s finest hour.

Honestly, he was frightened to even look at the ship too closely
,
for fear it would collapse just from the extra attention. The thought of climbing aboard was giving him a rash somewhere unmentionable. He resisted the urge to scratch, knowing
that
it would make him look that much more guilty. Jarod needed all the help he could get right now.

“Wow,” Rob spoke what seemed to be on everyone’s mind. “Uncle Jare, this makes the
Eureka
look like the
Queen Mary
.”

Jarod glared at the offending teenager. Just because he was right didn’t give the kid any right to say that…at least not in front of Cleo. Rob assessed his uncle’s mood, appeared to rethink his comment
,
and went in another direction.

The teen sighed. “I’ll start on the computer diagnostics and see if this baby can even run the air conditioning.”

Buton was clearly unimpressed with the craft, but seemed to be trying out a glass-half-full approach. “At least we should have abundant funds for supplies.”

Jarod tried with all his might to keep his face expressionless, but Cleo had eyes like a hawk.

“Jarod?” Seriously
.
H
e
had
to figure out how she did that.

Jarod spread his hands wide. He added a big smile for good measure. “Guys, guys. Ships, even this clunker, are in high demand.” Cleo groaned and Buton shook his head, causing Jarod to
explain
further.

“So I had to quick
-
sale my house…” Cleo did a double take, glaring at Jarod with her best I-am-going-to-kill-you-slowly-and-painfully look. “Hey! At least we
have
a ship.”

Buton, true to form as always, would not let it rest. “And how much is left for supplies?”

Jarod turned away as he mumbled into his fist. “I’ve heard
that
they take American Express.”

Cleo looked like she was about to have an aneurism on the spot. “Jarod!”

“Look, we’ve got a ship!” Jarod infused his voice with all the enthusiasm he could muster. “With all that’s happened, I can feel it! What else can go wrong?”

Okay, even Jarod had to admit
t
hat
his latest statements
might not have been the smartest thing
s
to say at this point.

CHAPTER
10

Aboard the
Eclipse
, several hundred kilometers from the
M
oon

March 30, 2049

1029 hours, LST

Dr. Weigner hovered over the shoulder of the nav
igations
officer as the man plotted a course that would allow the
Eclipse
to evade M
oonb
ase detection. They were using the ship’s cloaking technology, which
,
while impressive, left something to be desired. With the current cloaking technology used, the craft still needed to do all she could to avoid direct scans. The shuttle would appear as nothing more than a blur to any casual observer, but penetrating the disguise was relatively simple once someone was looking for
it
.