Randolph Lalonde - Spinward Fringe Broadcast 08 - Renegades (54 page)

“Observation, trade,
and no military interference. I think Shozo is a little happier with
that, having a Lorander ship in the system for ten years instead of a
month,” the First Minister said. “I don’t think I’ll be
allowed to extend my stay any longer than what I promised, but I will
personally choose which ship remains behind.”

“Yes, that makes
things much better,” Shozo answered. She looked directly at Ayan
and said, “I’d like this to work. My people need a home, and
other prospects are far away, desolate. They all agree that the Order
war is too devastating as well. Being responsible for taking the
first steps towards peace is exactly what we need to turn away from
our violent past.”

There was no mystery to
why Clark Patterson sent Shozo. Turning her down was tantamount to
kicking a litter of kittens; she knew how to appeal to people and
pull heartstrings. The agreement would bring more workers, diversity,
and a Lorander presence to the area. Not to mention the thought of
having their own portable Lorander repair and construction facility.
Her father would be in charge of operations on Tamber, close to the
situation. He would minimise the risk surrounding the deal even
further. “I can’t say no,” Ayan told Shozo. “Let’s repeat
the details for the record.”

The Cargo

The Sunny Shifter was
the newest ship Remmy had ever set foot on. The vessel was less than
five weeks old, and besides the tampering his team had to do to get
control and a few signs of a fire-fight, it was pristine. White, dark
green, and silver tinted metals surrounded them as he and Bell Dul
came to the reinforced airlock leading to the long cargo train.

“What strikes me as
odd is how fresh the cargo train looks,” Bell said as they looked
at the access panel beside the airlock hatch.

“I was thinking the
same thing,” Remmy replied as he took a pair of slender data spikes
out of his sleeve. They were made of hardened metal, had a conductive
core and intelligent microscopic interface links on their ends. “I’ve
never seen a cargo train with all new containers. We know there’s
some heavy machinery and rare supplies way in the back, but you can
transport that stuff in any old box.”

“Is that how you’re
getting in?” Bell asked as she watched Remmy tap one of the slender
data spikes into the panel beside an old fashioned number key.

“Yup. I couldn’t
find out who is in those stasis pods in the first thirty cargo cars,
and I couldn’t crack the panel, so we’re going to have to
carefully trick the system into thinking the panel is damaged. An
emergency bypass circuit will take over that won’t stop us from
cranking the door open manually.”

“How’d you figure
that out?”

“I read the manual,”
Remmy said as he tapped in the second spike. He waited for the rods
to connect with the electronics inside and smiled as a schematic
appeared on his comm unit. “Voilà. Just like I figured, this fancy
new security system is using the cheapest method to block the manual
lever for the airlock. It’s just a software block; if we were
coming at this door from outside the ship, it would be impossible to
break through this way, but since we’re inside, and the mechanisms
are all right here…” He commanded the spikes to emit a charge and
the old-fashioned keypad sparked and died.

The sound of a latch
releasing filled the cabin. “Was that the manual control
unlocking?”

“Yup,” Remmy said,
glancing around. “We’re looking for some kind of small access
hatch.”

“Wasn’t that bit in
the manual?” Bell asked, searching.

“That part of the
translation wasn’t exactly clear,” Remmy said.

“Any word on how
Captain Valent is doing?”

“I shouldn’t tell
you anything, but let’s just say that Alice is holding together
really well, considering,” Remmy said. He knew Minh-Chu moved
Captain Valent into the medical bay aboard the destroyer, but that’s
all he could do. Until they arrived in the Rega Gain System, Jacob
Valent would remain in stasis, and no one could be sure of his
chances. Remmy, like most of the crew, saw Captain Valent as an
indomitable man. Blocking his status for all but officers was the
right move, especially since their captain was in the territory of
last hopes and desperate acts. “It’s pretty dire, things could go
either way, but there’s no way of knowing for sure until we’re
home. You didn’t hear that from me, and you won’t share it.”

“Gotcha. Wish I could
know more, though,” Bell said. “Oh, the panel is up there.”

Remmy looked straight
up and snickered. “You’re taller, you open it.”

Bell Dul pressed a
small rectangular door and it popped open, revealing a pump handle.
“Pull?”

“Yup, pull and push
until the system builds up enough pressure to open the door.”

She followed the
instructions and after pumping the handle a dozen times the airlock
door slid all the way open in a sudden swish. “Would it have been
faster to just blast the security panel? I mean, instead of using
those spikes?” she asked as they moved into the airlock.

“Sure, but Moira
might be a little pissed if we started blasting the refinements on
her ship for no reason. Those spikes only damaged a tiny circuit, a
skitter could repair that in five minutes.”

“Ah, I guess I’m
just too used to running and gunning,” Bell said.

“I’m not
complaining, there’s nothing wrong with running and gunning when
you’re in a hurry,” Remmy said as he opened the next panel and
invited Bell to pull the next lever.

She pulled it once and
the door behind them closed. One more pull opened the airlock hatch
leading into the cargo cars. “That was quick.”

“Just had to move the
pressure from one door system to another,” Remmy said. “Hacking
through a brand new ship’s systems when you’re in transit is so
much fun.”

“Older ships are
harder?” Bell asked.

“Older ships have
modifications and unexpected improvements,” Remmy said.

“Right, that makes
sense. I get the feeling you’ve captured a few ships before this
one, yeah?” Bell Dul asked.

“Not too many, just a
really dangerous one. I’ll tell you about the Sunspire sometime.”

“The Freeground
ship?”

“Yup, that was my
first really big hack,” Remmy said. He momentarily recalled the
mission he joined Clark Patterson on to retake the Sunspire, and the
sounds of the other boarding team dying as they ran into the ship’s
merciless defence systems. “You may have to buy me a few drinks to
get that story out of me, though.”

They walked into the
first cargo car to discover a large, semi-circular control console.
The interior lights activated, filling the space with bright white
light. Stasis pods were mounted in four rows for the length of the
storage car, and there was a stable environment. Remmy noticed
several worm-like sterilization bots along the deck as they made
their way around the stasis pods destroying contaminants. They were
harmless, with no artificial intelligence, but he knew if he was
seeing a couple right away there would be more in the cargo train.
“You don’t spend this kind of money to transport slaves.”

“No kidding, all
these stasis pods are new, state of the art,” Bell Dul said,
looking through the transparent lid of a pod mounted on the hull to
their right at a golden haired young man. “These aren’t liquid
stasis pods, they’re the cushy independent environment dry models.
I remember wishing I could afford that when I was coming out of
liquid stasis.”

“Why were you in
stasis?” Remmy asked as he accessed the console. As with the door,
the captain’s control codes didn’t work. He checked for biometric
security, and smiled after seeing that no one had activated it. With
a chuckle, he started punching in the five most common passwords.

“I was a kid, don’t
really remember where we were coming from, but it was a long trip,
and my family couldn’t afford the food and air charges, so we went
into stasis.”

“Not fun, I’m
guessing,” Remmy said as he punched in a sequence of numbers from
zero to ten.

“I don’t remember
much more than coughing up that fluid and finding gummy stuff in my
nooks and crannies for days.”

Remmy stared at the
console in shock as it unlocked and laughed. “Really? No one
bothered to change the password?”

“Why? What was it?”

“Admin,” Remmy
replied. He sobered a little as he read the available commands. “Oh,
that’s why. Each pod is controlled individually, some are locked,
and the container controls are all set up on the bridge. This console
isn’t exactly the key to their security.” He downloaded the
manifest from the terminal and turned to the nearest unsecured stasis
pod. It contained a well-muscled man with a rifle. “This guy should
know something.” Remmy activated the revival system and drew his
sidearm.

Bell Dul trained her
rifle on the man as the stasis pod hood raised and moved out of the
way. “Wow, quick revival sequence.”

“Yup, the deluxe
model,” Remmy said as he pulled the man’s heavy rifle out of the
stasis pod and stood it up against the railing beside him. “I’ll
be having that, thank you.”

The square jawed man
drowsily opened his eyes at first, then they snapped open and he
searched for his weapon. “Terrorists!” he shouted as he leaned
forward.

Bell Dul bashed him
across the face with the butt of her rifle, more than hard enough to
knock him back into his stasis bed.

“Whoa, whoa,” Remmy
said. “We’re just asking this gentleman a few questions, then
we’ll put him back to sleep for the rest of the trip.”

“You’re traitors to
humanity, and you’ll get nothing from me!” said the man.

“Okay, so it says
here your name is Curtis,” Remmy said, reading information from the
manifest on the comm unit. “So you’re from a corporate training
camp on Kaney, probably contacted by Regent Galactic to train
soldiers for the Order, yes?”

“What?” Curtis
asked, appalled.

“It’s okay, don’t
tell me anything, your personnel file is open now that you’re
awake. It says here you’ve been with the Order for two years? That
can’t be right.”

“Under the Child
Prophet! May his memory inspire the galaxy!”

“Wow, they got you
programmed good,” Remmy said, scrolling through the summarized
personnel file on Curtis Mahanon. There was little information about
him, other than his rank, basic health information, origin, and
destination, but he didn’t have to tell Curtis. “So, you’re in
charge of all these other soldiers? Says here you’re a major.”

“This is a colony
transport, you idiot!” Curtis shouted, glancing wide-eyed at Remmy
then Bell.

“Say it, don’t
spray it,” Remmy said. “So most of the people here are
civilians.”

“True pledges to the
Order, don’t you dare put your unclean hands on them!” Curtis
shouted, leaning forward again. Bell Dul raised her rifle and took
aim at his head, and he settled back.

“Okay, so you’re a
whole serving of crazy with a side dish of delusional,” Remmy said.
“I think we have everything we need for now, good night,” he said
as he reached to reactivate the stasis pod. “This was all a dream.
Just sit back and-“ Curtis moved so quickly that Remmy couldn’t
get out of the way of a sucker punch. His suit detected the strike
and activated his helmet just in time.

Bell Dul fired her
rifle, ruining Curtis from the neck up.

“Wow,” Remmy said,
looking at the steaming corpse. “Absolute overkill.”

“Sorry! I’m still
punchy from this boarding operation.”

They watched the stasis
pod finish closing. “And I though I was just starting to make a
connection with the crazed Order of Eden soldier,” Remmy remarked
as the pod started to flash red.

“Sarge, do you have a
minute?” his second in command, Dotty, asked over his communicator.

“Yeah, I’m not
getting anything else out of this guy. Oh, and don’t call me Sarge.
I keep picturing a thick, cigar chewing drill Sergeant whenever you
do.”

“What’s a cigar?”
Dotty asked.

“That’s it, I’m
putting on an ancient war movie night as soon as we get back to Haven
Shore,” Remmy said, throwing his hands up. “What’s up, Dotty?”

“We thought we saw
movement on the Warlord’s hull, so we scanned, but didn’t pick
anything up. We left the scanners focused on the dorsal aft quarter
anyway, and now we’re picking up a heat signature.”

“Two days into
wormhole transit and we find a barnacle? What does it look like?”

“We had to move a
little when we started the deceleration sequence, I guess we couldn’t
get a good scan before. It doesn’t match anything on file,” Dotty
said.

“Does the Warlord
know we’ve found something strange on their hull?” Remmy asked,
checking the communications logs.

“I wanted to talk to
you first but I didn’t want to interrupt you while you were
interrogating that soldier.”

“Send them your
sensor logs and all your readings,” Remmy said. He opened an
emergency channel to Alice.

Her Reluctant Majesty

Ayan’s first
experience with public speaking was a nervous and frustrating affair.
Appealing for the right to own everything her predecessor, the first
Ayan, owned in her lifetime in front of the top lawmakers in the
Freeground Nation was nerve crushing. The speaking engagement she was
about to undertake seemed bigger somehow. As she waited for Lacey,
Oz, and her father in a room adjacent to the unfinished Council
Chamber, she fought to control her anxiety, taking deep, slow
breaths.

“Something came for
you,” Lacey said as she carried an absurdly long white box through
a side door and put it on the table. “From Patrizia Salustri. It
seems she’s back now that the Carthans are packing it in.”