AMP Siege (4 page)

I turned my attention to Rodriguez, who was now sitting at the nav console. "How are we looking?"

Rodriguez replied, "The maps are under construction as we speak. Until that's complete, I can't say if I'll be able to do this right, Sir."

I furrowed my brow. "I thought you just said you could do this."

Rodriguez turned around. "I said that I believe I can, Sir. Believing and doing are two different things entirely. If the maps come back, and if I can get my arm pad sensors to download their latest info, we might just get lucky with a few matches, Sir. If that happens, I should be able to get us in the general area of the Grid."

I shook my head in a sarcastic manner. "Well, how about we be a little more specific next time there, Ramrod. I don't fancy us having to broadcast an omnidirectional signal out here so the Grid can signal us back with a location. I think we would have other visitors before that signal came back."

Rodriguez nodded and smiled. "You got it, Sir. No more volunteering!"

I sat back in my chair. We were adrift in space while our fellow Humans were in need. I wondered if the Grid's systems had been compromised like ours. They certainly had the personnel resources on the Grid to combat such an attack, but what if they were unsuccessful? The Grid could once again be at internal peril from an outside force.

York placed her cybernetic right hand on my shoulder. "We'll make it, Sir. If there is anyone that can fly us home, it's her. Just give her a little time."

I replied as I gazed at the star maps building on the view-screen, "I hope you are right, York. I can't say I like being out here by ourselves. Not with those Gonta ships running around."

Six hours of discussions between Rodriguez and the major had passed before the ion engines were powered up.

I spoke. "We going home?"

Rodriguez replied, "We are going somewhere, Sir. Let's hope it's home. We should know in about eight hours if the Targ system shows on the sensors."

The ride back towards the Grid had me on the edge of my seat. Were we headed in the right direction? Had Rodriguez made the right decisions with the mappings? I sat with my elbow on the armrest and a fist balled up under my chin. A countdown clock ticked away on the view-screen.

Rodriguez spoke. "We have a system coming on the sensors now. Yellow sun. Multiple planets. We have a match, Sir!"

Cheers rang out on the bridge. But our problems were far from over.

Lieutenant Goddard spoke. "Captain! I have signal from the Grid. But we can't answer it, Sir. Our comm remains offline. I have run the comm processors through a full reboot several times, but that virus has managed to somehow stay entrenched."

I replied, "Well, we should be able to get some techs from the Grid to clean it out, shouldn't we?"

Goddard shook his head. "We have a problem there also, Sir. Our beacon is part of the comm system. Those Grid guns will not recognize this ship coming in. And, if I was the captain of the watch, I would not let us dock without first establishing comm with us. You wouldn't want a ship coming back with a load of hostiles on it, Sir. Having comm up is imperative."

I waved my hand in the air. "So, we pull up short of the guns and wait for them to send out a shuttle. If it takes an extra fifteen minutes for us to get verification, we can spare that fifteen."

Again the lieutenant replied, "Sorry, Sir. Protocol requires comm. No comm, no shuttle dock either. We might sit there for days before they attempt to do anything."

I dropped my arm. "I don't see that we have a choice, Lieutenant. Rodriguez, take us in just short of gun range while we figure this out."

Frost then spoke. "Sir, the Targ system is in between us and the Grid. Why don't we stop there and see if we can get those harvesters free?"

York stepped in. "We can't talk to the harvesters without comm."

Frost frowned. "I guess that's true. OK, how about we see if we can lure the Targs away so that the harvesters can leave on their own? Our main goal is to get those harvesters out, is it not?"

The Captain spoke. "A diversion just might work, Mr. Grange. The discovery of those holes drew the Targs to the area. Maybe we can give them something more exciting to look at elsewhere."

I replied, "I like where this is going, but how do we draw them off without exposing ourselves? If they see another ship, the Gontas will not be far behind, and we are in no position to fight them."

York spoke. "Sir, what if we hijack a small asteroid and send it hurtling down to the surface in an unpopulated area?"

Frost cut in. "Oh, that could be fun, Sir! A splashdown in one of those oceans would be cool."

I replied, "We aren't looking for spectacular, Frost. Just something to grab their attention. Besides, if we drop something big in their ocean, it would probably cause a wave big enough to wipe out a few coastal cities. I think the Targs have suffered enough. Captain, I think we have our perfect distraction. When we enter the system, have your team search out a suitable rock to throw down at the planet."

The Captain directed her crew. "Goddard, since comm and nav are offline, why don't you and Lieutenant Commander Thigs scan the system data for a suitable target. Calculate what we might use that would offer a substantial impact with only localized damage."

As Goddard and Thigs made their way to the sensor consoles, I walked to the cafeteria with York and Frost. After loading a magnetic tray with a load of slop from the twenty-four-hour chow line, I sat down at a metal table on a long bench. The food tray snapped down as it clung to the table underneath.

I pulled up a forkful of clovette greens and turned to look at York. "I could sure use a red Brivad ale about now. A nice Borak steak would hit the spot too."

York replied, "On my last duty station, I had a small hydroponics cart that I kept as one of my personal items. I managed to keep a megeth root budding in there for almost two years. Put a little ground-up megeth on that clovette and you will soon forget what you are eating, Sir."

I chewed on the dense vegetation and spoke. "When I cook for Ashley, I cover just about everything with megeth. I know it's expensive and always in short supply, but it is one luxury I am glad we sometimes have available to us, given that we are always on the run."

Frost took a swig of germus tea from her metal cup and replied, "You know, the hits we took from the Colossuns, they took out nearly three-quarters of the megeth growth in the Grid farms. Stocks were just starting to run dry when we left. The price went from four credits per gram to almost twelve overnight. I thought about going into business with York here, to open up our own hydro farm. She is the only one I know who has gotten that stuff to stay alive outside of the Grid. I bet we coulda made a small fortune!"

York spoke. "Dear, when I go into the farming business with a plant killer like you, we will know our time in this galaxy is at an end. Sir, that woman has killed every plant I tried to set her up with."

York turned towards Frost. "Now, why would I risk my time and money on you, Frost? What would you bring into this business?"

Frost grinned. "You grow the root. I'll sell the root and give you 25 percent!"

York shook her head. "You do realize that I scored extremely high on my math exams, don't you?"

Frost replied, "Please, not the math exams story again. Sir, I beg you, ask her to stop. She brings that..."

Lieutenant Goddard stepped into the cafeteria. "Sir, Captain needs you on the bridge. Sensors picked up a Gonta ship in the Targ system."

I took a swig of my drink and hurried off to the bridge.

When I arrived, an image of the Gonta ship was on the view-screen. "That looks like one of their bigger ships, Captain. Are we going to be able to approach the planet without being spotted?"

The Captain replied, "I wish I could say, Mr. Grange. The last time they were here, we were sitting still. Motion makes us visible."

I looked intently at the view-screen. "Can we change course so that we slide in behind one of those planets? That would get us into the system at least."

Rodriguez spoke. "Already on it, Sir. Will add about twenty minutes to our journey. I can park us where we are in visual sensor range, just on the planet's edge."

Several hours passed before we arrived at our observation location behind a gas giant. The planet had a debris ring that was teeming with asteroids of the size we were seeking. Goddard and Thigs got to work on selecting an appropriate rock to propel. After we came to a stop, the Targ's planet, along with the Gonta ship, was in full view.

Thigs spoke. "Sir, we have a rock picked out. It should give us about a two-kilometer crater. Anyone within five hundred kilometers will definitely feel the impact."

I turned to the Captain. "Can you call a couple of your ship's engineers up here, Captain? I have a few questions for them."

Several minutes passed before the engineers arrived on the bridge. "Guys, do you have the ability to construct a small shield that we can apply an image projector and engine to? We used a strategy against the Milgari where we built a shield of sorts, with an image projector to hide its visible signature. And we then cruised in behind it in our ships. If we can build one big enough for the asteroid we want to send in, I think we can surprise them with it. The Gontas would want to know how that got so close without it being detected, so they would investigate."

The lead engineer spoke. "We will see what we can do, Sir. I believe we would have the materials on board needed to put that together."

I thanked them as they left the room to begin their work.

I paced about in front of the view-screen and then spoke. "Wow, that projector shield brings back some memories. I was just getting into the thick of it with the Milgari when we came up with that. What an outstanding team I had. If this works out, the Gontas will be scratching their heads."

The shield was prepared and deployed. Rodriguez piloted the
Granger
through several tricky maneuvers, and the one-hundred-twenty-meter-diameter rock was soon on its way towards Targ. We moved back into position on the back edge of the planet that protected our location and watched intently on the view-screen.

The officer at the sensor console spoke. "Everything looks good, Captain. I'm not detecting any type of sweep signals, and there has been no movement from the Gonta ship."

I sat back in my chair. "How long to impact, Captain?"

The Captain replied, "Three hours, twelve minutes. The rock and shield are going in hot, but we will be applying some ion braking through the shield just before it hits the atmosphere. At its current speed, it would likely cause severe damage. We had to send it out at high speed, or we would be sitting here for months waiting for it to travel from here to there. Let's just hope they don't pick up on any signals from the braking."

The sensor officer spoke. "Approaching final speed, Captain. Shield is lifting away. We have atmospheric entry. Impact in... thirteen seconds."

Frost spoke. "Can we zoom in on the impact point? This should be exciting!"

I replied, "Mr. Hobbs. Let's give Frost her zoom, please. We wouldn't want her to be disappointed."

As the image enlarged, an alarm sounded. "We have another Gonta entering the system, Captain! We are in full view with our camera systems active. We aren't putting out much of a signal, but..."

The Captain yelled, "Rodriguez! Get us out of here! They have a lock on us!"

The
Granger
began to accelerate as the Gonta ship closed.

Rodriguez spoke. "Better get those weapons online!"

I stood and turned. "Rodriguez! Bring us to a halt and turn us to face the Gonta. It's time we find out if they can be dealt with."

The Gonta ship slowed to a halt as it closed to five thousand kilometers’ distance. The sleek black ship had a wide oval base with a long, thin neck that jutted from the center and ended in a fore bridge that undoubtedly gave a clear view of all but the back side of the vessel.

The sensor officer spoke. "Sir, we are receiving a hail signal from the Gontas."

I replied, "Tell them we are explorers and mean no harm. Let's see if they are reasonable."

Frost cut in. "Holy moly, Sir! That impact is spectacular! If I was to guess, they already have a trajectory figured out and will take that as a hostile gesture."

Hobbs spoke. "Sir, our comm remains offline. We have no way to respond. They are continuing their hails. I'm detecting ion activity, Sir. It looks like they are bringing their weapons online!"

I turned to the Captain. "Any ideas? I don't want to just be sitting here if they decide to start blasting."

The Captain replied, "Mr. Emmers! Bring the Yacabucci online. Start a web forming in between us and them. Rodriguez, get ready to pull back on my command."

I spoke. "What are you thinking, Captain?"

The Captain replied, "We can't hit them with the web without it taking time to build. If we put it between us, we might have enough time to ramp it up to full strength. At that point, we start to move away with the hope that they will follow and move into it. Of course, we have no assurance that it will work. And we do have the issue of that other Gonta ship. Given the speeds we have seen them traveling, it could be on us in about four or five minutes."

I leaned back in my chair and turned towards Frost. "Great, where I go, trouble soon follows."

York spoke. "Sir, we could bring the comm system back up and try for a response to them. Worst case is we have to shut it back down."

The Captain turned to the lieutenant. "Can you bring us back? Give me your best reason to not try."

Goddard spoke. "Bringing the comm back online puts the rest of the ship at risk, Sir. That smart virus could spread to the other systems."

The Captain turned towards me. "Mr. Grange, what call would you make? Do we chance it?"

I stood. "I never was one for sitting still, Captain. Bring the comm up and let's see what plays out."

York stepped up and placed her hand on my shoulder. "That's the Grange I know. Frost. Let's go suit up! If this comes to blows, we might want to try getting a boarding party onto that Gonta ship."

Frost turned towards the door. "Now we're talking! I am liking the prospect of a little action, Sir. All this sitting around is going to my hips. Hahaha!"

Frost and York hurried off the bridge towards their cabin. I shook my head as I thought of the two of them ramming down the hallway of a Gonta ship with blaster fire exploding in front of them. I had a sudden yearning for my AK. If the Gonta decided to board the
Granger
, we would be fighting for our lives.