The Fringe Worlds (2 page)

Along its inner rim lay The Fringe, a cluster of some 37 stars of various classifications and supporting 12 habitable planets, ranging from the heavy rock giant of K’ly to the wispy and gaseous Dimloe, with its four-meter tall inhabitants known for their grotesque cannibalistic rituals.

Along the outer edge of The Void was the Barrier, a dense, diaphanous cloud of pre-stellar gas, aglow in brilliant hues of red, green and orange. Though beautiful to behold, the Barrier was just that, the defining line between the civilized galaxy that reached to the Core and beyond, and the Far Arm, with its untold millions of unexplored systems stretching all the way to the edge of the galaxy. Unable to be pierced by conventional scanners or optical telescopes, much of what lie beyond the Barrier was nothing more than rumor, myth or supposition.

The Void restricted the outward migration of civilization into the Far Arm, keeping that region of space a mystery to all but the most daring or foolhardy.

Along this frontier territory of the Juirean Expansion was where the true galactic pioneers plied their craft, made up of merchants, miners and entrepreneurs, along with some of the most-vile criminals that had ever existed. Life in the Fringe Worlds was not easy, but for some, it was all they knew.

The Fringe was where Kaylor and Jym eked out their meager living, hauling strings of often forbidden cargo from one port to the next, staying ever-mindful of the changing political climate of each individual world in the Fringe.

Case in point: Silean Smokesticks. The Sileans prided themselves for the smoothness and strength of the herb that went into their `sticks, which made them a valuable and cherished commodity to the Rigorians, who used them in many of their religious ceremonies — or so they said. The problem was that to get from Silea to Rigor meant crossing Li’Polan space, where being caught selling any kind of intoxicant carried with it an uncontestable sentence of death.

So to avoid Li’Polan space, hard-working traders like Kaylor and Jym were forced to endure a three-week-long transit of The Void, going so far out of their way that after each trip Kaylor swore it would be his last. And yet, ‘sticks were worth a small fortune on Rigor.

Having prepped and deployed the drones, Kaylor pulled the FS-475 far enough away from the range barrier so he could get a running start toward the pirates. The plan was to build up a pretty good head of steam, then go dark and coast in undetected. Then as they got closer, he would fire up the wells and surprise the pirates. As Kaylor explained to a still-skeptical Jym, he didn’t want the pirates to have too much time to build up the courage to confront his phantom fleet. By dropping in at the last minute, he was hoping for a spontaneous reaction and an instinctive flight to safety.

At the right moment, Kaylor dissolved the well and went dark.

They were too far out to see the pirates visually, but the overlapping circles on the view screen began to creep ever closer to the left edge of the screen. The timing would be a judgment call. If he fired up too soon, the pirates might form a defensive line and choose to fight. And if he waited too long, they might feel they have little choice but to stay and fight. As the distance closed, and the tension in the pilothouse grew thicker, Kaylor began to have second thoughts about his entire plan.

In a few minutes they had closed to within extreme visual range and Kaylor and Jym got their first real look at their targets. In the center was a large circular ship, clearly ten times or more the size of the three oblong-shaped pirate ships surrounding it. One of the pirates had attached an umbilical to the large ship while the other two lay out at a distance, like wild beasts waiting their turn at the carcass.

There were burn marks along the hull of the target ship, with one prominent line running up and across a bulging pilot dome at the center of the disk. The ship had very few portholes along the fuselage, yet the ones that were present still had light shining from them. Kaylor tried to keep his imagination from conjuring up visions of what must be going on aboard the large ship. He knew pirates did not take prisoners; there was just no money in ransom in the Fringe since life here was so cheap. So it was only the hardware they were after. Soft-flesh creatures were just an obstacle to an end. And Kaylor was letting the killing go on for his own selfish goals. Oh well.

Finally, it was now or never. Either he was going to do this or not. About then, a strange calm descended on him - a resignation of sorts — and he engaged the wells.

The effect was almost instantaneous! Within a minute, the two outer pirate ships fired up their backwells and streaked off in the opposite direction from Kaylor’s line of approach. A few moments later, the umbilical broke away from the third pirate ship and it began a wide sweep behind the circular ship using its chemical drive. But then the unexpected happened. The pirate continued its sweep, and ended up facing Kaylor and his phantom fleet, just sitting there.

“He’s not leaving!” Jym shouted the obvious.

Kaylor was staring so intently at the pirate ship on the screen that he almost felt as if he and the pirate captain were looking directly into each other’s eyes, daring each other to act. But neither waivered.

As the seconds passed, Jym began to fidget, glancing from his screen, then to Kaylor and back again, repeatedly. And still Kaylor stared.

Finally Jym had had enough. He reached for his own pilot stick, determined to change course if Kaylor wouldn’t—

Just then the pirate moved! For an instant, they both stopped breathing — as the pirate came straight for them! But then it turned about and bolted away in the opposite direction, disappearing visually as it sank into its own event horizon.

The two of them let out simultaneous cries of victory — and relief!

Kaylor collapsed back into his chair, closing his eyes momentarily. His ruse had worked, but barely. As he sat there with his eyes closed, Kaylor tried to wonder just what the pirate captain had been thinking Maybe it was the fact that three pirate ships were working in unison that had given him more courage than sense. Or maybe he was just a ruthless bastard. Either way, that was too close.

The pirate ships were off-screen before Kaylor and Jym powered down and slipped in next to the stricken ship, but they knew the pirates were still lurking in the area. Kaylor’s plan was to attach an umbilical of his own and go aboard the ship for a quick survey and to see if anyone was left alive, including any abandoned pirates. Then they would attach grapples to the big ship and pull it away before the pirates worked up the courage to come back. There would be plenty of time for salvage on the way to Nimor, where they would register the salvage and make it all official.

Jym opened the outer viewport shield so he and Kaylor could get their first real look at the huge ship in natural light. The ship was huge, easily five or six times the mass of Kaylor’s ship, yet the configuration was all wrong. Very few ships were circular in design and it had only a few nodes interrupting the smoothness of its hull. It was a beautiful ship and Kaylor was literally salivating thinking of what riches it held inside.

So it was with almost childlike enthusiasm that Kaylor suited up and began the trek through the umbilical and into what he had mentally began to refer to as his “retirement.”

Even though the scans indicated that there was an atmosphere and gravity aboard the ship, Kaylor nevertheless wore an environment suit as he crossed the umbilical. There was an airlock on the other side that still worked and once he was safely through, he raised the visor on his helmet and took in a deep gulp of air. There was a strong trace of ozone, along with the distinctive scent of burning flesh. Even though the smell was offensive, he keep the visor up so he could hear better, cautious of any threats that still lingered within the ship.

He found himself in a wide corridor that curved off in either direction following the gentle circumference of the ship. Proceeding carefully, he soon came upon two dead Jakreans, their gray flesh burned in several spots, gray tunics stained with blood. He wasn’t surprised to find Jakreans aboard; after all, they were the workhorses of the galaxy, semi-intelligent beings who followed orders and had no imagination of their own. Kaylor was sure he’d find several more, just like these, during his survey.

Next he came upon a wide window set in the wall to his right. Inside was a vast room lined with row upon row of what appeared to be hiberpods. He’d never seen so many in one room! Entering through an open doorway, he found three more dead Jakreans along with another being, this one taller and dressed all in silver. Its head was large, with a long slopping forehead and a crest of long white hair. The creature had been shot in the back and had fallen on its side. Red blood pooled under the creature, and there was a laser weapon still in the dead grasp of the creature. Looks like he at least tried to put up a fight.

Moving closer to the pods, Kaylor noticed that they were all occupied by creatures still hooked to the fluid tubes - yet each one he could see had a small, bloody puncture wound at its temple!

All the canopies on the pods were open and quick count of the rows put the total pods at 80. Moving quickly past the dead silver creature, Kaylor confirmed that each of the creatures in the pods had the same wound to their temples, the type of wound that would have been made by the weapon held by the dead silver being.

They had all been assassinated. But that didn’t make any sense. The creatures in the pods were all primes, mostly male, well-muscled and about average height. He didn’t recognize the species, but that wasn’t unusual. With over 8,000 known primes in the Juirean Expansion, Kaylor wasn’t up on every one of them.

Yet these creatures had been intentionally killed, and not by the pirates, but rather by the apparent owners the ship.

“Are you seeing this” Kaylor asked through his communit.

Jym answered immediately. “This is strange. Those hiberpods are some of the most expensive I’ve ever seen. You don’t put just anyone in them, and then turn around and kill them all. But you better get moving. The pirates won’t stay gone forever.”

Jym was right. Once they got the grapples on and slipped into a well, he’d have plenty of time to come back for a more thorough accounting.

He left the pod room and proceeded down the corridor, passing three more dead Jakreans and two more of the silver creatures. Everything was silent. There was no indication that anyone else was aboard — or alive.

After a while, Kaylor came upon a wide stairway on his left that led toward the center of the ship. Logically, this would lead to the bridge.

The command center was situated in the central dome area he’d seen from outside. All the control consoles were located on the outer wall, and opposite them was a central bank of equipment and computers towering about four meters high. Kaylor could clearly see where one of the blasts from the pirates had penetrated the command dome, slashing through a section of the consoles before being contained by sealing foam. The room was airtight now, and even some of the electronics were still functioning.

He moved to one of the consoles and began a quick survey of the controls he could see. They were magnificent, some of the most sophisticated he’d ever seen! Then turning his attention to the equipment bank behind him, Kaylor was equally impressed by the navigation and life support units he could see. This was the mother lode! Not only were there salvageable units here, but they were also probably the most expensive he’d ever seen. And he hadn’t even been to the generator room yet!

And there was the computer core! The single-most valuable piece of equipment aboard, besides the massive gravity generators. But this was something he could easily haul back to his ship. Moving to the equipment bank, Kaylor flicked the four securing latches at each corner of the one-meter-square module. He grabbed the two side handles of the core and pulled the unit from its rack. Instantly, he noticed that the three steady orange lights in the equipment bank above the core suddenly turned yellow and began to oscillate from right to left. Before he could ponder why, he was interrupted—

“Kaylor!” It was Jym on the communit.

“Yes, I know, I better hurry up.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Pirates”

“No. You’re not going to believe this, but I’m picking up gamma particles.”

Kaylor was stunned by the comment. “Strong”

“Yes. I think the source is right in the room there with you.”

Kaylor couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Why would they have a nuclear device onboard”

“Could be a self-destruct of some kind,” Jym offered.

“Can you pin-point the source” Having let the computer core fall to the deck, Kaylor frantically scanned the room, looking for any kind of unit that looked like a self-destruct control. Seeing none, he was about grab the core and head for the exit when Jym spoke.

“The source is about four feet in front of you, in the equipment bank. And the signal’s getting stronger.”

Directly in front of Kaylor was the recess opening left by the computer’s central core. Bending down, Kaylor inserted himself into the gap and turned on his helmet light. In the back of the recess was a rectangular box with a control panel and a lighted display. And on the display a counter was clicking down numbers!

Kaylor knew Jym could see this, too. “What do you know about this”

“I’ll run it through the Library.” In a moment Jym came back on the line. “It’s a self-destruct alright. A timer is counting down. At zero, we’re nothing but atoms.”

“How much time do we have Can we get out of range in time” Kaylor gritted his teeth in anger. He was so close to the big score, and now it looked as though he’d have to abandon the salvage.

“Oh no!” Jym screamed in his ear.

“What’s wrong”

“At the pace of the countdown, the bomb will go off in less than seven minutes.”

Kaylor was stunned. There was no way he could get back to his ship in less than five, and it would take Jym at least 10 minutes just to charge up the generators to get away on his own! It was impossible.