The Veritian Derelict (Junkyard Dogs) (2 page)

Chapter 3
.

"...After Hiram Whitney invented his eponymous Overdrive, practical travel between stars became possible. Communications, however, had proven to be a serious challenge, at least until others of genius equal to Whitney's turned his Field technology towards developing FTL communications. By the time of the Great Human Expansion, made possible by the Whitney Overdrive, reasonably compact Whitney Field communications consoles had been developed that could provide nearly instantaneous communication between planets and ships across an entire solar system. A direct offshoot of microjump technology, these in-system devices are still referred to as "Stage I" Whitney consoles. Such a system requires a moderate investment and uses a moderate amount of power. These consoles quickly became fairly common. Most starships, for instance, were, and still are, equipped with Stage I Whitney communications devices...

...Fifty years later, with the development of the Stage II communications console, instantaneous star to star communication became possible. Unfortunately these consoles are still very expensive and require enormous amounts of power, which is why they were, and remain, relatively rare. Only large orbital platforms, luxury passenger liners, large cargo ships carrying very expensive goods and selected military ships are equipped with Stage II communications consoles. The United Terran Federation maintains at least one Stage II console in each of its inhabited star systems...

...Neither type of Whitney transmitter will function in the presence of atmosphere; the transmitter must be in vacuum to operate properly...
"

Hartwell Wrist Comp reference note highlighted for further review by Tamara Carlisle. Excerpt is from "The Whitney Revolution: Engine of a New Destiny for Mankind" by Melvin Patterson.

Piedmont
Asteroid Mining Station, Catskill-Soroyan Star System, November 28, 2598.

Communications tech 1
st
Class Darvin Horsefall had been waiting for the soft rap on the door to the Piedmont Asteroid Mining Station communications suite but he was still slightly surprised when it came. It was a little before midnight on the Mining Station, which was currently anchored solidly to a medium-sized asteroid in the Catskill-Soroyan System, and not many people would be wandering the corridors, especially in the upper levels where the communications suite was located. Even though he was about to break some rules, Horsefall followed standard protocol, using the intercom to issue a challenge to the person or persons on the other side of the door.

"This is Communications Tech Horsefall. State your business.
"

There was a
muffled giggle, followed by a reply in a conspiratorial whisper: "Darvin? It's me, Tiffany."

Horsefall
smiled and his heart sped up in anticipation. He had met Tiffany in the gym a few days earlier. After he had gone off duty at 2 AM, he had gone to the zero gravity gym to work out, partially to stay in shape and partially to become more proficient at the series of weightless maneuvers that he had to master as part of the requirement to achieve his next promotion. He was really hoping to clear that hurdle on his next attempt, after which he planned to immediately apply for a transfer out of this Godforsaken place. Horsefall was a member of a small United Terran Federation Navy contingent that was assigned to the Piedmont Station to provide a Federation presence and to operate the complex, long distance communications equipment. Piedmont was a Spacer facility and Horsefall was emphatically not a Spacer.

Despite the hour, while he was
at the gym he had been joined by several people, one of them this slender, strikingly beautiful, Spacer woman currently at the door. He had admired her grace and skill at the weightless maneuvers and was surprised and somewhat pleased when she asked him to spot her while she attempted a particularly difficult move.

If he hadn't been so smitten with her, he might have noticed that s
he had been a little evasive about her background and how she came to be so proficient at weightless maneuvers. She had mumbled something about having been on a weightless gymnastics team at university and liked to keep her skills at least somewhat honed. Since the job she had at the General Store had her keeping late hours, the wee hours of the night were the best time for her to work out. Horsefall had found himself inviting her to a nearby bar for a drink as they departed the gym and had been delighted when she had accepted.

T
he bar had been crowded and noisy and Horsefall was tired from the workout after his shift so they had sought out the quietest corner they could find. They shared two drinks that first night and some small talk. The night after, they had met at the gym again before heading to the bar and sharing a few more drinks. That time Horsefall thought he had detected the promise of more than just conversation in the future. Much more.

His heart skipped a beat in anticipation
as he overrode the security lock on the door mechanism. Not only was she very attractive, she was also very coordinated and in excellent physical condition. She had asked a few questions about what he did on the station and, when she found out that he was one of the communications techs, had wondered if he could send a message for her to her brother on the Santana Nexus. Horsefall knew it was against regulations but found himself replying that he would be happy to send it for her. They talked it over some more and, seemingly by mutual agreement, he had invited her to come up for a private tour of the communications suite.

Horsefall opened the heavy, shielded door and let the woman into the communications suite. Her
sleek, jet-black hair was just long enough to brush her shoulders. Her eyes were just as he remembered them, beautiful, huge and mysterious, so dark they were almost black. Those eyes laughed at him out from under straight-cut bangs. The Spacer clan tattoo on her left cheek that swept up over her cheekbone and ended about a centimeter in front of her left ear made her appearance even more exotic. Horsefall thought, not for the first time, that she was drop-dead gorgeous. She set her handbag down on a table just inside the door and came easily into his arms as soon as he turned back to her after securing the door. Like most gymnasts, she was not a very tall woman -- Horsefall was average height and she still barely came up to his chin. They shared a long soulful kiss.

She tasted of cloves and
her firm, compact athlete's body felt really, really good in his arms.

Horsefall surprised himself by
ending the embrace. He was breaking enough regulations by having her in the communications suite in the first place, no need to compound the problem by doing something really foolish. An unauthorized visitor was one thing, dereliction of duty was quite another. Besides, he was due to perform the weekly communications check with Federation sector HQ on the Santana Nexus Station in less than ten minutes.

She retrieved her handbag and
followed him over to the communications console. He positioned her in a dark niche only a meter or so away from him but out of the range of the communication console video pickup. He looked at her and put a finger to his lips while he slid into the padded chair in front of the console.

She suppressed another giggle.

Through the large viewport across the room behind him, she could see a cluster of starships docked near the asteroid, including several scarred and battered mining vessels, several tramp cargo ships, some wealthy man's yacht and an old destroyer, a small, obsolete ship with Tunisian Republican Navy markings that was probably at the outpost for provisioning before returning to its home system. In addition to its primary function of processing the various ores gleaned from the asteroid belt before shipping the partially refined and thus more concentrated products obtained to manufacturing facilities all over Federation space, the mining station also served as a supply center for this remote sector of the Quadrant.

"Is that the
...what did you call it?"

"This is the stage two Whitney communications console
," said Horsefall. "We can converse almost instantaneously with anyone else who has one of these consoles anywhere in the explored part of the Galaxy. In a few more minutes I'll put through a call to the Santana Nexus. I'll send off a couple dozen packets of email and other communications and then I'll check in with my counterpart on the Nexus before he sends a bunch of stuff through from his end. When we get done, I'll put this console on standby for another week, when we'll do it again. I told you about this just last night. You don't remember do you?"

"
I do, kind of," she replied. "I remember that you said the communicator takes a lot of power,"

"Oh, yeah, you'll probably see the lights dim for a few seconds after I
bring it online. Do you have the message for your brother?" She fumbled in her bag for a moment before fishing out and handing him a memory chip. He laid the chip on the top of the computer console and turned back to her. "Sorry, Tiffany, but you need to stay quiet and out of the range of this video pickup for the next ten minutes. Can you do that?"

She smiled and nodded
as she leaned back into the niche as he had instructed, out of the range of the video pickup. Out of politeness or genuine interest, she kept an eye on what the communications tech was doing while he operated the communications console.

Horsefall busied himself
for a few minutes getting the week's communications lined up. Operating the big, stage II Whitney communicators was a power-intensive and therefore expensive enterprise. By having everything queued up and ready to send beforehand, a good communications tech could save valuable time and money. He carefully and methodically uploaded material from four or five message chips before accessing the message from Tiffany's chip and loading it as well. Finally he flipped the big red toggle switch that brought the large console from standby to operational status. The woman noticed a distinct dimming of the lights that lasted for a second or two before the illumination returned to its former level.

Horsefall
exchanged greetings and other pleasantries with his counterpart on the Santana Nexus before the two communications techs went through the routine of sending and receiving the week's mail and other electronic communications. The exchange went smoothly and professionally, just as it was supposed to. Finally Horsefall signed off and went through the procedures necessary to return the big console to standby.

"There you have it
..." he said as flipped the standby switch and turned to face her "...What the...?"

The
naive, innocent young woman he had invited into the communications suite no longer looked so innocent. Or so naive. The pulse handgun she was pointing at Horsefall wasn't a particularly large weapon but that didn't make it any less deadly. The sonic and flash suppressor unit fitted to the projector of the handgun was strictly forbidden by all governments in the Quadrant, not just by the Federation. Her look had become hard, predatory.

"Move away from the console, Soldier."

"Tiffany?" he asked, as he moved to comply, "What the hell is going on?"

"Over here," she said, gesturing with the pistol towards the very same niche next to the communications console that she herself had just vacated.

As soon as Horsefall had gone into the hiding spot and turned around, she coldly centered the laser sighting dot of the pulse pistol on the bewildered man's chest and pressed the firing stud. A lethal burst of three consecutive pulses struck home. Horsefall, a look of surprise frozen on his face, slid down the wall and slumped into the niche.

"We're starting a new war," she said
, to the man she'd just cut down in cold blood, "and you're the first casualty!"

With the weekly stage two communication having just gone out, it would be a
t least another week before anyone outside the small planetary system expected the mining station to report in again. The woman efficiently and professionally stripped Horsefall of his sidearm, identification cards and other valuables. She then used his key card to obtain the authorization codes for a cargo shipment set to be delivered to the obsolete but still serviceable Tunisian destroyer that she had seen through the viewport.

Showing an expertise with the communications console that would have amazed the now deceased communications tech, she again used his key card to copy the entire download
just received from the Santana Nexus to the same memory chip that she had given the technician a few minutes earlier. She then set several small but powerful explosive charges, which had been concealed in her handbag along with the pulse pistol, and armed a remote detonator. The communications suite would be destroyed if she were to input the proper sequence of symbols into the tiny hand-carried remote control unit that she slipped into a pocket of her coverall.

She spoke into a small communications device. Her message was brief and concise
, "Objective taken, prepare for the next phase."

***

Onboard Spacer Mining Ship
Donegal
, outside the Piedmont Asteroid Mining Station, Catskill-Soroyan Star System, November 29, 2598.

Seamus O'Connell, Captain of the asteroid mining ship
Donegal
, was docked near the Piedmont Mining Station, along with a mixed assortment of other ships that had business at the station. He and Niall Patrick, Captain of
Donegal's
sister ship
Glendaloch
, along with their twenty-five man crews, had been mining a remote area of the asteroid belt as a two-ship team and were at the Station to unload the high-quality ores they had mined and to replenish general necessities like food, medical supplies and other sundries in preparation for another foray out into a remote area of the belt. The two captains planned to depart from the orbital station early the following morning.