Galactic - Ten Book Space Opera Sci-Fi Boxset Page 6

  “What formation are they using?” Morgan said.

  “They’re extended across an AU, orbiting a series of dwarf planets.”

  “The captain’s ordering four more of our destroyers to the area.”

  Morgan shook his head. “Tell them to stand down. Horans wouldn’t send five destroyers into the Salus Sphere. Keep me updated if you see any more buildup.”

  “But, sir,” the lieutenant said. “The captain has authority—”

  “From now on, any CW movements come through me. We may be entering a period of war, and another enemy has returned. Do you have a problem with that?”

  “No, sir, but I’ll have to speak to the captain. It’s going against his direct orders. ”

  “I’ll speak to the Ops command and let them know the new approval line.”

  Morgan scanned the monitoring screens. The horans had a reason for being in that location. They had a reason for doing everything. This wasn’t just a case of waiting for the CW to commit their resources to a search and taking advantage. If they weren’t planning an attack, their presence could only mean one thing. They were also looking for the Atlantis ship.

  The consequence of the horans finding it and harnessing the tech sent a shiver down Morgan’s spine. Mach’s mission had taken on an even greater significance.

  Chapter Seven

  Mach was sitting in the captain’s chair. He gazed at the two JPs maneuvering the holocontrols. Wet behind the ears, inexperienced, and would likely crumble if the shit hit the fan. The Vekron Valley had been quiet so far, but he’d expected that while on their light drive.

  During the first part of the journey, Mach rested in the sleeping bays and left them to monitor the ship during the L-jump. He busied himself and read as much information as he could find on the Atlantis ship. Disappointingly, most were Salus network posts by conspiracy theorists. He needed to find a technical expert who had a real interest in the alleged myth.

  Danick and Lassea changed to the shuttle’s fusion motors as they approached the Valta asteroid belt, telling Mach they were only half an AU to Summanus. This was a prime hijack zone. Ships were forced to slow in order to navigate through without taking significant impacts.

  One of the console screens let out a high electronic beep. Danick peered down and quickly turned. “We’ve got five unidentified ships. Four klicks away and heading in our direction, Captain.”

  “You can drop the rank now,” Mach said. “I stopped playing military man years ago.”

  “Did you hear me? Five ships!”

  Mach smiled back at his panic-stricken face.

  As predicted, the JPs would be tested and would prove either way if they were suitable for the mission. If they failed to come through this minor problem, he’d need to find a good pilot from the prison.

  “What do you want us to do?” Lassea said.

  The Phalanx-E provided a nice target for pirates. Mach would’ve been disappointed if pirates didn’t take the bait. No visible weapons and the possibility of ransoming a dignitary, how could they not decide to take a bite?

  “Keep at full speed and head for the closest part of the belt,” Mach said. “Follow my instructions and you’ll get out of this in one piece.”

  “We should’ve known,” Danick said. “The AI—”

  “Screw the AI.” Mach stood and walked to the console. Five green dots, without the standard CW ship codes above, flashed on the edge of the screen. Two split in either direction; one maintained a course directly behind them—the classic pincer movement of pirate fighters. They were gaining on the Phalanx-E.

  “We’ll be in the belt in a minute,” Lassea said. “I need to slow us.”

  “Hold your nerve and take her in,” Mach said. He watched the monitor. Two fighters headed below them on the starboard side, two high on port. “Let’s find out just how much they want us.”

  Lassea thrust to port and passed between the first two asteroids. Danick leaned in his seat and winced as they narrowly avoided the huge piece of rock on their starboard side. The way ahead looked impassable, but it always did because of the different sizes and orbits.

  “Commonwealth ship,” a voice crackled on the intergalactic distress frequency. Mach loved how the pirates abused the channel for their holdups. “Return to the valley or we fire. You can make this easy on yourselves if you just give up now.”

  “What do we reply?” Danick said.

  “Nothing,” Mach said. “Maintain your speed and head for the middle of the belt.”

  “We’ll get hit if we don’t thrust,” Lassea said. “It’s too dense.”

  A small rock bashed against the side of the Phalanx-E and the cockpit juddered. Mach grabbed the arm of his chair to maintain balance. “These E classes have five times the heavy armor as a pirate fighter.”

  “We can’t take hits from asteroids and lasers.”

  “Have faith in CW design,” Mach said, enjoying watching the flustered two young officers out of their comfort zone. If they were coming along, this was only a starter. “If you want to return to your comfy apartments on Fides Prime, follow exactly what I say.”

  Danick glanced down at the tracking monitor. “They’re almost on top of us.”

  “Commonwealth ship,” the voice crackled again. “This is your final chance.”

  Mach configured the distress frequency on his smart-screen and raised it. “Give it your best, shitbird.”

  A rock bounced off the side of the Phalanx-E. The ship vibrated and something dropped to the floor behind Mach. An alarm repeatedly bleeped. Lassea gasped. “Our port thruster’s gone. I need to reduce our speed.”

  A red laser zipped past the front window and hit an asteroid. Tiny fragments of rock chipped away into a small cloud of dust.

  “You see that?” Mach said. “They ain’t gonna hurt us. I want you to head directly for that asteroid and thrust to starboard to hit it side on.”

  Danick spun and gave Mach a wild-eyed glare. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”

  “Not in the slightest,” Mach said. “We’re going to play a game of skillion.”

  Lassea set a course for the asteroid and glanced over her shoulder. “You want to knock it out of its trajectory and disturb the others around it?”

  “Now we’re getting somewhere. The ship can take it. The pirates can’t.”

  The shuttle jolted. Mach knew the pirates would score a hit eventually, but they were using scare tactics. It served no purpose to destroy the Phalanx-E. The pirates were banking on the pilots to surrender. If Mach wasn’t here, they probably already would have.

  Half a klick from the asteroid, only slightly smaller than their ship, Lassea engaged the starboard thruster and they spun on their axis, positioning the heavy side armor toward it.

  Mach checked the monitor again. The pirates had closed right up and clustered behind them. The heat traces from their weapons registered at regular intervals.

  The brother and sister held hands and braced. Mach held the arms of his chair and hoped for a decent bounce. The density of the asteroid belt thinned half a klick away and they’d enter Summanus’ space zone, safe from the pirates.

  A laser hit their underside and rocked Mach out of his chair. He held his breath. The shuttle slammed into the side of the asteroid and the structure groaned. An array of alarms beeped on the console. Danick and Lassea frantically spun their holocontrols to set the shuttle back on course.

  “Put the rear camera on-screen,” Mach said.

  Danick nodded and manipulated a floating green cube on his left. The top screen flicked from status indicators and measurements to a view from their stern.

  They had managed to knock the asteroid into a new orbit. It crashed against a smaller one and sent it hurtling into others. Mach glanced down at the tracking monitor. The pirates split in different directions away from the shuttle. One disappeared.

  A burst of fire erupted behind a large asteroid. Parts of a fighter scattered into space, colliding with smaller roc
ks.

  Mach continued to survey the monitor. The remaining fighters continued away, but he decided to keep his eye on them. He knew they often used this tactic as a ruse to launch another assault.

  Lassea puffed her cheeks. “I don’t think we can afford to take another hit. The armor’s down to ten percent effectiveness and the thruster’s going to need repairing.”

  “Keep switched on,” Mach said. “Rule number one: put your biggest strength against their biggest weakness. They didn’t have our range or integrity. Rule number two: never surrender unless you want your throats cut.”

  Danick and Lassea ignored him and continued to fiddle with the controls. He was confident they got the message.

  ***

  Summanus was a living hell for most of its residents. The Commonwealth used it as a prison planet, because nobody wanted to live there. Dark angry clouds constantly filled the chilly skies. Rain lashed down incessantly and bolts of lightning regularly crashed against the ground.

  Mach spent six months locked up in the damned place during his early years as a freelancer, falsely accused of gun-running and with a fine he couldn’t meet until one of its recent inmates helped him and bought his freedom.

  Ernesto Sanchez paid Mach out, ironically in exchange for doing a spell of gun-running through the noncombat zone. Easy work and they built up a good relationship. Ernie was imprisoned last month, accused of killing two lactern diplomats while escaping the local security droids after a deal went bad. His advanced knowledge of CW and Axis weapons made him ideal for the crew, and Mach could finally return the favor.

  Two drones zipped through the clouds that shrouded the planet, and approached. They both locked their motion torpedoes on the Phalanx-E.

  “You have failed to automatically authenticate. Please identify yourselves,” the monotone voice said through the open CW channel.

  “We’re here on authority of Admiral Morgan. This is JP Danick. My copilot is JP Lassea. We’re under the command of Captain Mach.”

  Good, Mach thought. They were already starting to think on their feet. Despite not having the quintuplets to handshake and confirm a landing position, Danick used the weight of Morgan as leverage. The prison security wouldn’t dare go against an admiral from Fides Prime and impose the non-CW approved taxes.

  The drone didn’t respond. Mach knew it would be replaying the message back to flight control, and guessed they’d be in pointless debate before coming to the predictable conclusion that the Phalanx-E would be permitted to land.

  Mach twisted an atomic blue capsule between his fingers. He considered swallowing it for a brief moment. Although it provided an unbeatable rush and quickened his thinking, buying out a prisoner was a mundane routine. It also had hallucinogenic properties when mixed with alcohol, which proved handy in certain situations. He slipped it back into his breast pocket.

  “You are free to use bay five,” the drone said over the speaker. “We will escort you down.”

  Coordinates flashed across the console screen. Mach rolled his eyes. Summanus was king of officiousness in the Salus Sphere.

  “Thank you,” Lassea said and smiled across at her brother. “We’re coming in for landing.”

  The shuttle descended through the black clouds and rocked around in the tropospheric turbulence. Lightning flashed across the sky and rain pelted against the cockpit window.

  Bright lights formed a square below them. The perimeter of the prison. Mach remembered the electronic ring they placed around his neck when being admitted. If an inmate attempted to escape and passed the outer boundary, the ring automatically tightened around their neck for every meter they went beyond. Thirty meters led to strangulation. They had a different type for every species.

  Lassea thrust and the Phalanx-E bumped against solid ground. The side door slid open and cool air rushed inside. Mach stood and wrapped his collar up. “You two wait here. I’ll be half an hour.”

  “One of us can come with you,” Danick said.

  “I think I’ll be all right,” Mach said. These twins had potential, but it was still early days. He reminded himself that he was once a young green officer, wanting to impress but lacking in experience. “We’re going to a local bar tonight. Get some food into your guts.”

  “We don’t drink,” Lassea said.

  Mach raised his eyebrows. “We’ll see about that.”

  He turned and headed out into the darkness. Rain splattered against Mach’s head and he tucked his neck against the back of his collar. Thunder rumbled overhead and a bolt of lightning forked across the sky, silhouetting the distant mountains.

  The imposing square gray concrete structure of the prison, lined with hundreds of security lights, lay directly in front. He splashed across the landing strip, past two old rectangular supply shuttles, and headed for the entrance. It was a smart place to build a prison. Anyone who escaped would end up in a bigger kind of hell if they avoided being choked to death.

  A guard with a bushy beard opened the door as Mach neared the entrance. He jogged the last few meters, nodded his appreciation to the guard and swept back his soaked hair.

  “Why has Admiral Morgan sent you?” a stern-looking fidian woman, dressed in a black warden’s uniform, said from behind the reception desk.

  “He didn’t send me, but I have his authority,” Mach said. “I’m here to buy out one of your inmates.”

  “Who do you want?”

  Mach knew the price would double if he told her. “I need some crew. If one of your people could give me a guided tour…”

  “I can’t waive the extra ten percent without the admiral’s approval.”

  “Do you want me to message him and give him your details?”

  The fidian leaned over her desk and scowled. “I’m letting you off with the landing tax. If you want this to be quick, you’ll pay freeworlder prices.”

  “Didn’t you see the CW shuttle outside?”

  “Didn’t you forget your authentication quintuplets? You can go through the official process and spend two days here. I’ve got all the time in the Salus Sphere.”

  “Fair enough,” Mach said. The staff always skimmed and this guard was an experienced player. “Let’s get this over with. I want to get out of this shithole.”

  She gave him a lingering glare and pushed a solid white ring across the desk. “Confirm you have credit.”

  Mach wondered if the weather had taken over the guard’s mind. She could’ve been replaced by an AI-drive cyborg with more personality. He placed his wrist through the ring and a green light on top of it beeped.

  The guard nodded toward a squat bald human partner, who stood by a thick internal steel door. He swiped his security pass against the pad and the door to the prison block clanked open.

  “This way, please,” the squat guard said.

  Following the guard through another security door that led to the cells, Mach peered along the brightly lit ten-meter-wide corridor at the light blue walls and shiny red floor, polished every day by prisoners. Nothing had changed in twenty years on A-wing.

  At the end, two more corridors split off at right angles, giving the prison building a huge T-shape when viewed from above. B-wing and solitary confinement, the latter housing the most dangerous and disruptive inmates.

  One hundred metallic doors lined either side of A-wing. Each had a small transparent viewing window and a digital display below it, giving the inmate’s name, fine and period of incarceration.

  “Are you looking for anything in particular?” the guard said.

  “A human. Nobody who’s been in here for more than a few months,” Mach said, trying to narrow the parameters for a quick find. He felt sure the miserable guard at the desk watched and listened through the security feed, ready to increase the price on the digital display of anyone he named directly. “I’d rather not have anyone from the defense force. Too institutionalized.”

  The guard nodded. “We’ve got a few options. Follow me.”

  He led Mach to a
cell halfway along the corridor. “Loppy Wood. He’s been here six weeks. Caught smuggling on Salus Gamma.”

  Mach gazed through the window at the thin man, dressed in the prison’s green coverall, who lay on his bed in the corner of the cramped sparse cell. He rubbed his chin, feigning interest. “He looks a bit on the skinny side. Are you starving them?”

  “I have to eat the same meals,” the guard said and slapped his bulging gut. “Do I look malnourished?”

  “Not at all, you’re fine specimen. This one isn’t quite right. Can I see more?”

  The guard continued along the corridor and showed him a few more pirates and smugglers. Mach held his nerve. Not that many inmates would fit his requirements.

  Finally, after being shown two more cells on B-wing, they came to Ernie’s.

  His fine was two million eros. The right amount for a double homicide of lactern dignitaries. Ernie sat against the wall with forearms resting on his knees, the coverall hiding the Fides Gamma animals tattooed all over his body. Mach hadn’t seen him clean shaven with a buzz cut before. He always had long black shaggy hair and a thick handlebar mustache.

  “Had much trouble from this one?” Mach asked.

  “He’s only been out of solitary for two days. Smashed up two lacterns in the showers after they attacked him.”

  “Sounds ideal for what I want. I’ll take this one.”

  The guard shrugged. “There isn’t any more that fit your description. Personally I’d take Loppy.”

  “He doesn’t suit my needs. Prepare the transfer.” Mach turned and glanced along the opposite corridor. He still needed another crew member and wondered if any of his acquaintances were locked up. “How many have you got in solitary?”

  “Ten at the moment. Mostly horans.”

  “What about the others?”

  “A lactern spy and a real mean bitch serving life for killing twelve high-ranking officers.”

  Mach had read about Adira’s arrest last month, but her location was kept secret. She was exactly the kind of person he needed. A ruthless CW assassin, considered the best in the Salus Sphere. He guessed she had taken the fall for superior officers. Adira was too careful to make that kind of move without being under orders.