Battleship Destroyer (41 page)

The Captain interrupted Jack.
"Well concentrate then on what you need to convert the fleet's torpedoes and fighters back at The Rock. What do you think of these other projects you have started?"

Jack made some adjustments on his controls. "Red Dwarf; this is shutt
le 7. Thirty seconds from trap 2. Switching to lock approach control."  Tapping the controls. "Sorry Captain except for the black hole torpedo warhead, I have not had time to take a close look at very many of the other programs yet. I will take a look when I get a chance sir."

"I am sure you will Mr. Turner. Make sure it is s
oon. I will expect a report on my desk tomorrow morning. Carry on Ensign." The Captain cut the connection.

"What? A report? When the hell am I supposed to do that?" Jack hit his com
-watch and tried to get the Captain Back on the line.  Without thinking he hit the control stick moving it to one side sending the shuttle off course. Alarms started blaring as the side of the lock approached. Jack jerked the stick the other way over controlling, sending the shuttle spinning into the other side of the lock's entry hatch. The shuttle disintegrated around him shaking Jack like a rag doll in the pilot's seat.

Everything went dark as Jack's seat stopped shaking. The lights came back on. "Now that was a very interesting docking. Never had anyone try to dock with the lock's hatch before.
But there is a first time for everything Ensign."

Jack turned around to face the instructor sitting behind him. "Ok; I screwed up
my first approach. Let's try it again sir. I can do this."

-----------

After dinner Jack went over to Engineering's Central Control compartment to go through the various research programs that had been started. He then spent the entire evening at the engineering simulation terminal checking what the teams who were working on various projects were doing and writing up reports for the Captain. Finishing the reports he started helping where he could. Though some did not appreciate his offered help or suggestions. A few did appreciate his help salving the many problems until they started shutting down for the night. He had been quite impressed with what most of them were trying to do. What he needed to do now was get back to the Red Dwarf so he could work with the groups in real time. The many problems buzzing around his mind, interrupted by his failure to salve the Ion's engine problem in time to save the test boat's crew. Wishing now he had not insisted on hacking into the system to see the damn video of them dying at their stations.

Then the terminal went dark and Jack had no choice but to give up
after calling maintenance too tired to look into the problem himself. He headed for the ward room to grab some tea on his way to his bunk. Suddenly wondering where he was supposed to sleep and surprised that he had not been hauled off to the brig yet having forgotten all about the incident with the Ensign's boobs.

Stepping onto the platform to head for
officers’ country in the bow of the ship, several men joined him. They were not in Navy uniforms with two of them in civilian work coveralls and the 3rd a fancy tailor made lab coat. Jack had never seen any of them before. Even though it was late and most of the ship deserted, he did not think it was unusual to suddenly have 3 civilians on the platform with him as he continued with his own thoughts. The faces of the dead test shuttle crew dying in front of him yet again still not believing what had happened.

"You know who I am boy." The lab coat man said to Jack
as the platform entered the pipe chase rising up past the first of the deserted, empty grates circling the outer part of the core. The empty cargo elevator openings in the center of the grates towering up through the platforms. The cargo elevators folded up against the outside of the chase on each deck to make room for an individual cargo elevator if needed, to run up or down the open center of the chase unobstructed.

Jack's eyes blinked as he
focused on the man, dragging his mind back from the screen in his mind showing the shuttle and crew. Baffled at the hate in the man's eyes and the two men flanking him menacing expressions. Too many things troubling him to be scared for himself when he finally realized they were not happy with him. They had the same expression his brother usually had before punished him for something imagined or not, but knowing he had always been alive after wards, unlike the poor saps on the shuttle, he could not make himself care anymore about his pitiful problems. Tired and disgusted with himself for not seeing the obvious problem with the engines from the beginning. He frowned and said. "Ah, let me guess. Civilians on a Navy test ship with a crew of less than a hundred right now. Yap. You must  be with that party of bozo's I could not find an original thought in anything they have done since they boarded, but seem quite adept at changing computer date stamps. You going to try making your orders to destroy a shuttle and murder its crew disappear too?"

"Wh
y you little shit. How dare you? How did you find out? Your granddad was good at figuring things out too. I bet you’re the one that cut off our access to the technology. That moron Cunt Captain is too stupid to figure anything out. Tell me how you found out and then we will have a little going away party."

"I am
the one that shut you down? I did not know I had such power. Sorry but that was the Captain after I told her what you were doing and that you were stupid morons from what I saw of your work." Jack touched his comm without looking at it.

"
How dare you. How did you?" The lab coated man looked around quickly then stared at Jack. "No it does not matter. You are a Turner. It took me decades to get rid of your grandfather." The man smiled at Jack. "It is not going to take me that long to get rid of you. Then convincing the Captain you lied and I was the one that figured out how to fix my engine will be simple with all the legal irrefutable records we will have by morning." Turning to the men with him. "It is a long fall down this open chase." And jerked his head in Jacks direction. "It is a shame you are going to commit suicide like so many high strung smart neurotic brains Turner. The stress of failing is just too much for you." Smiling from ear to ear. "It is a shame I could not make your grandfather suicide, but he was such a stubborn self-centered asshole shit no matter how much I abused and lied and degraded and embarrassed him in the media. No, I don't need to take the time or risk with you. The Captain is already worried about you jumping." Turning to his men. "Make sure he is looking down so he does not miss anything as he fly's."

The men approached Jack from both sides as Jack looked down over the side of the pla
tform rail and the open center of the shaft dropping down hundreds of feet to the lower deck and getting higher by the second. Jack frowned as he stepped to one side without thinking so he did not have to take on both men at the same time. The man approaching him with his arms spread suddenly reminded Jack of one of his brothers favorite attacks that started with him grabbing ahold of Jack and throwing him across the compartment, (only this 20 foot wide square platform was not big enough to throw anyone very far). That is until Jack had learned to turn his brother’s attack against him, to use his own weight against him. Jack had started taking defense classes at his grandfather's insistence when he was 8. Though as big as his brother was and as light as Jack was and scared most of the time, Jack always lost in the end and usually found it easier to just give in to save himself an even worse beating. But not always. But now with the military training of one on one over a full 10 weeks, he stepped forward to tap the man on his chin before he could closer his arms around him.

The big man started to swing back at Jack and the lab coated man yelled. "No. If you hit him
, it will not look like a suicide moron. Just throw him off the damn platform."

"With pleasure boss." The big man said.

Jack moved around against the side rail trying to put as much distance as he could from him but the man on the other side was coming back around the other way boxing him in. "Damn!" Jack suddenly realized that neither of the men were as big as his brother even if they were still a lot bigger than he was. But they seemed to be just as slow taking their time and no chances and from his defense lessons in boot camp, neither were holding the right stance or posture or their arms and hands correctly. He quickly realized that would not matter if they both got their hands on him. "Damn you to hell anyway." Jack lunged at the closest one hitting him in the gut with his knee doubling him over then shoving him over to the side against the barrier running around the platform. Taking a position at the center of the platform as far away from the edge as possible and waited. 

The second man lunged at him and Jack side stepped him giving him a shove as he passed pushing him down
to slid across the platform where he hit his head against the side barrier dazing him for a few seconds.

"Get him over that side you two
, or I am going to make sure both your families kids are expelled and banned from every public school in the Republic. Your kids will live as illiterate slaves for the poor, as long as they manage to survive."

The
lab coated man took a step toward Jack getting his attention as the first man finally catching his breath, his face turning beet red, rushed Jack and grabbed firmly onto Jack's arms from the front as Jack turned too late to do anything. Trapped, Jack grabbed the upper front of the man's jumpsuit as the man's smile grew from ear to ear at getting Jack right where he wanted him and started lifting as Jack jumped up bringing his legs up placing his knees on the man's chest and fell over backwards taking the man with him to the deck and then kicking out as hard as he could without thinking trying to get the man as far away from him as possible to give him time to recover before the next attack. The man sailed over him and Jack let go as the man hit the side rail of the platform's barrier on his back across his shoulders, his legs carrying him rotating over the top and out into open air. As his arms bent back over his head the man could no longer hold on and continued sailing out into the center of the pipe chases void and down out of sight.

The lab coated man and his single remaining henchman's face suddenly looked shocked as both their mouths dropped open.
A scream continued for 12 seconds and then a bang echoed from far below.

Both men looked at each other as Jack climbed back onto his feet and
looked over the rail at the body below, not believing what he had done.  Then the lab coat said. "Kill him. Now. Beat the shit out of him, make him scream then throw him over. I will testify he attacked and killed Phil and you just defended yourself."

The
other man lunged for Jack swinging and hitting Jack across the head before he could more than turn around.

Suddenly feeling lucky that the man had not simply grabbed him and boosted him over the rail
as well, instead of hitting him first while he stood there stupid.  Jack took the punches as he moved around the man from the rail blocking as many as he could though after his brother hitting him for years and boot ship he hardly felt them. Finally with the man getting tired and reaching the middle of the 20 foot square platform where he did not have to worry about anyone getting thrown over the rail Jack made his move. Grabbing the man's arm as he threw yet another punch, Jack stepped into him and turned bending over and throwing the man over his back with all his might.  The man tumbled in the air hitting the platform onto his shoulders, then his back, rotated across his butt and back up onto his feet and tumbled right over the side and out of sight slapping at the rail as he went over but not getting a grip. Another scream warbled down and away until another bang echoed back up the chase.

Breathing hard Jack turned to the lab coated man. "Now what? You going to get stupid to?"
Stepping as far away from the man as possible as he repeatedly glanced over the rail again and again but this time he kept a close eye on the man.

The la
b coated man was already standing against the control panel for the platform and simply turned around and punched an icon. "No Turner. I am not that stupid but by the time my men get done with the video on this thing, you will be charged with murder and out of my hair."

Jack frowned not believing what just happened as he looked down at his wrist comm.
"Ok so your skills go to video skimming as well as time stamp fraud. Some outfit. Just who the hell are you again?"

The lab coat smiled. "Save me having to have you killed later and thanks for finding your grandfather for me so I can finish the job I started 30 years ago. Can't be too car
eful, he may come back. For some reason he still out ranks me sonority wise. I was never able to get him fired since I could never fix the problem I lambasted and ridiculed and got him fired for."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"God you Turners are so frigging stupid. The man stared smiling at Jack until the platform came to a stop on the empty gun deck just above the mass tanks. Stepping off the man ran toward a trunk ladder hatch not far away.

Jack stepped to the control screen and tapped the officers deck and then
the platform started up again as he watched the man disappear into the hatch. Shaking his head he tried to figure out what had just happened until he caught sight of the emergency button in the corner of the control panel as the platform stopped on the officers’ deck. Not knowing what else to do but knowing he needed to report something to someone he hit it and all hell broke loose.