Turnabout
T. M. Hunter
“Jeanie, you’re sure
this is the place?”
At least my ship’s computer didn’t have the emotional capability to be insulted. “My navigation system has never been wrong, Aston. We should be at the listed coordinates.”
I stared at the forward viewscreen, seeing nothing but empty darkness. If this was someone’s idea of a joke, I definitely needed a closer eye on the jobs I accepted.
“I’ve detected an anomaly a few kilpars away. It appears to be a ship.”
It had to be what I was looking for. “Take us in.”
The original message had been specific in the location for this salvage operation. Usually, I stumbled upon these things by chance, so was happy to hear someone had already done the homework. It almost made it worth the offered fifty-fifty split.
Money was money.
“The derelict is not generating an emergency beacon signal.”
Bad for them, good for me. If they’d activated it, the authorities would have come across the ship, and confiscated the valuables I planned to re-allocate.
“Let’s not set it off while ejecting the containers, then.” We drew closer to the dark transport, its features gunmetal grey. It could have passed off as a mirrored copy of my own, with a bull-nosed front and rectangular cross-section along the main cabin.
“There do not appear to be any safeguards in place at all. It should only take a moment.”
More good news.
Paranoia wrenched my gut. This was easier than it had been in a while. Too easy. Jeanie interrupted, “Ejecting the first container...”
I watched as a cargo bay door atop the ship burst open and a rectangular box jetted out from the derelict on a pressurized cloud of dirty air. Maybe life was just easy sometimes. “Bring it in.”
“I believe there might be something amiss.”
Finally, justification for my paranoia. “Why’s that?”
“The weight of the container is inconsistent with the official manifest.”
“Not exactly a surprise, if they were smuggling contraband.” There’d been no discussion of what the actual cargo was in my messages. I figured it went without saying.
“There also does not appear to be any mechanical malfunction on the ship.”
Now that put my hackles up. People didn’t abandon perfectly operational ships, especially out here in the middle of nowhere.
“Combined with the ease in which the cargo was accessed, I have a feeling we may be falling into a trap.”
I couldn’t fault her for her opinions, because they closely resembled my own. “I agree.” Now the trouble was, I had to figure out what to do about it.
“Do you still wish me to pull the cargo in?”
I leaned back in my chair, interlocking my fingers behind my head. “I think we’d better test out the container before it comes onboard.”
“There are three other containers onboard the craft if we are incorrect.”
I wasn’t completely sure what my unknown “partner” would think about the loss of one of the containers, but ultimately, I was the one taking the risk. “Proton cannons, maximum power, continuous burst.”
She responded fast, almost as if she’d expected it. “Done.”
“Fire.”
Green beams of light pulsed from either side of my viewscreen, spanning the distance to the floating container. They barely even touched the container before it lit up the darkness. I shielded my eyes just before the blast imploded upon itself, leaving no evidence.
“Well, that was interesting,” I mumbled.
Jeanie supplied more information. “Sensor readings during the blast indicated several high yield explosive compounds and detonation devices.”
“Fairly certain they wouldn’t have attached those if they were just carrying explosives as cargo.” I needed to screen my messages better, with maybe a background check.
“I assume we will not eject the other containers?”
I frowned. “No.”
A huge flash made me shield my eyes once more. Someone was dropping below the hyperspeed threshold. There was no mistaking what the situation had become.
Definitely an ambush.
I instructed Jeanie. “Get us out of here!”
“The hyperspeed engines are not responding. It appears something is interfering with the signal commands.”
Rather than stand in awe of seeing new technical inventions in action, I feared for my life since I had no escape. The other ship was like a flattened old-fashioned bullet, silver and sleek with four aft engines mounted horizontally. It bore down on us.
“What armament do we have?”
Her response was matter-of-fact. “Our launch bay has not been resupplied recently. All we have are proton cannons.” I cursed under my breath as she continued delivering bad news. “Their targeting computers are locked on. Incoming transmission.”
I didn’t have a choice. It was my only chance to stall. “Put it through.”
Two helm stations sat at the front of the cramped bridge. A pair of nondescript hooligans sat there, with a woman taking up the single captain’s chair behind them. This female was definitely out of place, with pale blue skin and bleached blonde hair, which disappeared behind her back. Her slick, black body suit was something I hadn’t seen her in before, but there was no mistaking this vixen.
I cursed under my breath. “Angelika.”
“I see you weren’t killed in the blast. Shame.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
She sneered, curling up one side of her mouth. “You’re too easy to catch. A creature of habit.”
I really needed to change my methods. “No need for violence. Drop your jamming signal and we can work something out and both get out of here peacefully.” I sucked at diplomacy, so wasn’t sure why I even tried.
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t work things out with those who betray me.”
“Funny, I seem to remember you betraying me first.” I almost smiled at fond memories of double-crossing this double-crosser. But now really wasn’t the time.
“Betraying me will be your death.”
I knew there was always a price with the black market, even for my life. “I’m sure there’s some way we can remedy this situation.”
Her angry eyes burned through me. “I suppose that depends on how much you’re willing to pay.”
I wasn’t a big fan of extortion, but I also wasn’t a big fan of my ship being blown to tiny pieces. “Name it.”
“A hundred thousand credits should do it.”
Now I knew she was toying with me. “I don’t have that kind of money.”
“Well, then, dump all your cargo.”
I could have done that, except I didn’t have any to give her. She knew that, having set me up on a potentially lucrative deal to unload a ship full of cargo. Two could play at this game. “Let me check and see what we’ve got.”
I moved my hand up and muted the audio, turning to a terminal screen and pretending to look through a manifest. I spoke to Jeanie out of the corner of my mouth. “Jeanie, is there any way to get in their computer system and disable that jamming device?”
“I have been unable to penetrate their safeguards so far. I do not anticipate success in the time required.”
This was getting ridiculous, more and more looking like my final stand. All because I’d swapped an empty container out for the cargo she planned to steal from me.
A flash of inspiration hit me, which I only hoped would be successful. “Jeanie, are you still in the derelict’s computer system?”
“Affirmative.”
“Does it have any weapons we could use?”
“Negative. Just proton cannons, same as we have.”
That was disappointing, but I wouldn’t be deterred. The vessel could still be of some use. “Have it start moving to a spot between our two vessels. Make it slow so they won’t notice.”
“Done. Are you expecting to block the jamming signal?”
That would have been a nice side benefit, but I really didn’t know why I wanted to have a ship between us. Honestly, it was just the only means of a shield against the salvo of munitions aimed at me. “Let me know if it happens. Better yet, jump to hyperspeed if it does.”
“Acknowledged.”
I turned back to the viewscreen and un-muted the audio. “It doesn’t look like I have anything worth your while.” Along the right side of my viewscreen, I watched the field of stars and concentrated on the derelict moving to the forefront.
“Well then,” Angelika said with an evil smile, “it doesn’t look like you’ll be long for this life.” She slammed her fist down on the armrest of her chair and the transmission terminated.
That was my cue for action. “Get that ship in position!”
The engines on the derelict all lit up in unison, their bright white light nearly blinding. I almost wished Angelika would have left the communication channel on, so I could have witnessed her reaction.
But then she would have seen mine when Jeanie announced, “They’ve launched a salvo of four AIR-3’s.”
Adilphi Interceptor Rockets. This wouldn’t be good.
My mind scrambled as I watched all four eject below the ship’s main hull and light off. “Can you get the derelict into their path in time?”
“Negative. They will pass a potential intercept point in three, two...”
I cut her off. “Can we destroy them with the proton cannons?”
“One or two, perhaps. Four would require more time than we have.”
They quickly approached, and my impending death motivated me for a last-ditch attempt at saving my miserable life. “Can you hack into the guidance computers on-board the rockets?”
“Attempting...yes.”
“Reprogram the target!”
“Where would you like them sent?”
I didn’t have time for this. “The derelict!”
She didn’t give a response, as if she’d succumbed to the fact it was too late to save ourselves. At the last moment, the rockets jerked around, racing for a new target.
My heart raced, beating like a war drum inside my chest. There was no telling how many additional rockets Angelika had in store for me, but I had no doubt they’d launch everything they had to counter what we’d just done. Add on top of that the jamming device that prevented our escape, and the situation still didn’t look promising, despite evading the first hurdle.
I watched as the AIR-3s raced along, completely oblivious to the fact they were striking the wrong ship. They penetrated the hull and a fireball erupted into the darkness. It extinguished itself quickly in the vacuum of space, but not before the massive explosion rocked our attacker’s vessel. The ship careened off at an awkward angle while debris from the derelict scattered.
Jeanie jumped in. “The hyperspeed computer appears to be functional again. Making the jump...”
“Hold on,” I told her. The other ship wasn’t making a move to right itself, and I saw the faint flickering of its lights, which made me think their problems were fairly severe. “What’s the status of Angelika’s ship?”
“Main power has been disabled, backup systems are in effect. They no longer have a targeting lock.”
A huge smile spanned my face. With the vixen no longer having the upper hand, there was less need for a speedy exit. “Let’s see if she’s willing to talk now.”
The left half of my viewscreen flashed up, giving me another look at the inside of Angelika’s cramped bridge. The two men sitting at the helm frantically tried regaining control of systems failing all around them. The wild woman shot daggers at the screen. “You’re a dead man, West! I’ll hunt you down and kill you with my bare hands!”
“Get in line, sister.” I chuckled at her misfortune, but only because I had a way out of my predicament now.
Jeanie interrupted the gloating session I’d begun. “Aston...”
I muted the audio right as the witch started ranting about my questionable lineage. “What’s wrong?”
“I recommend leaving. The blast has set off their emergency beacon.” This, of course, meant authorities would be here soon.
“They aren’t turning it off?”
“I do not believe they know it’s operating. Their systems are sporadic in operation.”
I un-muted the audio while finishing a long bout of laughter. Angelika wasn’t amused. “What’s so funny?”
I certainly didn’t want to tell them what they were missing. The chance to put this witch behind bars was too priceless. “My computer was just telling me a funny story.”
Her forehead bulged as she seethed, “You don’t double-cross me and live!”
“Well, I have no plans to die.”
“I’ll find you again, trust me. You’re dead when I do.” She terminated the transmission and her ship drifted across my viewscreen.
Jeanie interrupted. “A pair of patrol ships has just dropped out of hyperspace a couple of megpars away.”
“Well, that’s our cue.” I took another quick look at Angelika’s ship. I didn’t know what would ultimately end up happening to her, but I was hopeful for a lengthy prison sentence; maybe she’d get the death penalty or something just as cheerful.
“Hyperspeed.”
}
~~~~~ <~
}
